On January 22, two teenage sisters of a Marma family were allegedly raped and sexually assaulted by security forces in Orachhari

The end of 2017 witnessed the return of a number of individuals who had disappeared in the second half of the year. Most of the 15 individuals, who had been missing since August last year, either returned to their respective families in the last three months or were shown as arrested based on various cases.

Thakurpara, an impoverished, tiny village of Rangpur district, houses around 50 extremely poor Hindu families, most of who make ends meet working as day labourers. Beside their lower socio-economic status, they are doubly

As a proud Bangladeshi of the 21st century, I embrace the role of the oppressed. I credit my therapist for this—“Look at the silver lining,” she says, “focus on the positives”. So I do.

"I was so happy when I saw the madam of the house, I told her I'd do whatever she asked of me,” described Moyna. “She took me to a room and asked me if I wanted to shower after my long flight from Bangladesh.” Moyna said yes.

Dizen Tudu wasn't always a calculative person. There was a time when he could work in the field under the sweltering heat all day and still have enough energy left in him to play with his three boys at home in the evening.

The right to equality and the principle of non-discrimination is recognised by the constitution of Bangladesh. While article 27 of the constitution states that the people of Bangladesh are equal in the eyes of the law, article 28 forbids any discrimination on the basis of race, caste, religion, sex or place of birth.

"When I was a volunteer for UNYSAB, a bunch of us were distributing sandals to rickshaw pullers who didn't have any. A group of hijras came along and took the sandals away, but a little while later, they returned and apologised for having done so. Assuming we were NGO workers, they said: 'Rickshaw pullers have parents, children, siblings, a family. We have nobody. Can't you do something for us too?'”

Three years ago, a Bangladeshi woman, let's call her Nila, petitioned the High Court asking for protection of her fundamental right to equality. She had been living in a violent marriage. But as a Hindu in Bangladesh, she has no right to divorce, and no exit route from continuing abuse.

A story by Reuters citing an Indian government spokesperson says that India is in talks with Bangladesh and Myanmar to deport 40,000 Rohingya Muslims, arguably one of the world's most persecuted ethnic groups.

From January 2012 to June 2017, a total of 388 incidents of violence against domestic workers have taken place, and, of them, only 161 cases have been filed.

The boiler explosion in a garments factory in Gazipur last Monday once again highlighted the government's inability to monitor the 5000-odd authorised boilers across the country.

Last Saturday night, the 400-year-old Rath Mela in Dhamrai, a fair integral to the Hindu Rath Jatra Utsab and the biggest Rath Jatra festival of the country, was shut down by the police over what it called “security concerns”, the fair stalls forcibly dismantled, visibly destroyed, and their owners beaten up.

In 2001 Hill Women's Federation published a compilation of Kalpana Chakma's diary entries, letters to her comrades, news articles about her abduction and fact-finding reports by groups about the circumstances around her disappearance.

Flimsy huts and lack of early warning in the camps lead to considerable damage.

With the court dismissing all the other complaints, the narcotics claim is the main battleground now. However, when the case is analysed, what comes up is that the law enforcers found only 45 yaba tablets. Twenty-eight men were sent to jail for it. Breaking down, it is 1.6 tablets per person only

In this city of 14.5 million people, at least 9.07 percent of its inhabitants have some form of physical disability, according to Household Income Expenditure Survey 2011 of Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics.

In a world post-Syria, 'refugee' has almost become a dirty word. It is no longer an individual seeking solace from a terrible monster or a family leaving everything they have known behind because a fire has come to consume them.

“I want to keep working,” says 16-year-old Akash. “I want to be an engineer!” says little Sagor, just 12. 11-year-old Sajeeb, the youngest, wants to be in the garment's sector.

Child labour is not only horrifyingly prevalent in our society, it is growing, and that is something we should be very, very afraid of.