Bangladesh and the Khan in Pakistan
The election in Pakistan and the subsequent victory of a former cricketer Imran Khan have created quite a stir across the world, including Bangladesh. Imran Khan’s victory is the most ‘in thing’ to talk about. The media is full of ‘how Imran came to power with the help of the military’, ‘what is he going to do in the next five years’, ‘how many women has he married …’ and so on. Mr Khan, however, looks quite confident about his dreams and about Pakistan’s future. Mr Khan talked about almost everything in his first speech, especially his government’s ties with the neighbours. He, however, forgot to talk about Pakistan’s ties with Bangladesh.
I’d like to advise our government to remind Mr Khan about the apology issue. Bengalis of Bangladesh have suffered brutal tortures from the occupying army of Pakistan during our War of Liberation. Almost half a century has passed, but Pakistani authorities have always shown their reluctant attitude to apologise to Bangladesh for the atrocities committed in 1971. Since Mr Khan is now talking about making his country better, it would be great for our authorities to nicely urge him to break this long-standing ice between Bangladesh and Pakistan.

Oblivious of shame
It’s a matter of shame. We, as governors, should be extremely ashamed. A government minister was seen grinning while giving a public statement on two students who were run over by a bus. There was not a shred of sadness in him — not to talk about remorse or his being ashamed. The social and regular media is flooded with grinning ‘who-cares’ type of faces. He was seen defending the criminals who killed the innocent students. He cited an Indian example, saying that‘In Maharashtra of India, 33 people were killed in a bus accident. Do the people over there talk like people do here?’ Oops! What a responsible statement for a minister!
He, however, ‘promised’ that the persons responsible for the deaths would be punished. But we know, Mr. Minister, nothing would happen; no one would be punished.
It’s worthwhile to mention that the same minister had said in 2011 that anyone able to distinguish between ‘cows and goats on the road’ could hold a driving license. Oops, again!
I’m sure the minister was certainly thinking that the accident caused only a temporary flare-up in the minds of the people and they would forget the whole episode on the next day. If he thought so, he was perhaps right. We do forget all ills committed by criminals all too soon.

Gaffar Chowdhury’s 80 percent
Abdul Gaffar Chowdhury, the venerated lyricist of ‘Amar Bhaiyer Roktey Rangano…’ has spoken his mind in a recent function. He thought ‘80 percent of members of the parliament are unfit for the job and the Awami League should rethink about them while nominating candidates for the next general election. He was introducing a potential candidate of his choice.
Now, if an eminent, experienced and venerated analyst such as Chowdhury thinks that most of the MPs aren’t capable for their post, we think there may be some truth in his evaluation. We also agree that Awami League high command has some thinking to do. It’s not that we don’t like our present MPs, but the rethinking is necessary for the sustainability of the party as well as the government itself.
Sacking the ‘kiss’ photographer
Photographer Jibon Ahmed has reportedly said that he has been sacked from his work with Purboposhchimbd news portal over the image of a couple kissing that raised a social media storm in the ‘conservative Muslim-majority’ country. The portal authorities have brought an allegation against him, saying that Jibon was unfit for the job he was doing. What an excuse for sacking a person from his job!
It looks like conservative Muslims spend all their marital lives devoid of any kisses! It’s quite surprising to notice that a mere kiss is a taboo in this country! It’s also quite surprising that the same conservative Muslims never protest against the millions of violent rapes that are committed by the horrendous criminals across the country. Oops! It looks like they want the rapes to continue but they would prevent the kisses at any cost!
Ekram Kabir is a story-teller and a columnist