Tara Sattar

Starting from the construction plan of Rampal Power Plant to the attack of Holey Artisan Bakery, Bangladesh seems to be in the middle of a big loophole. And so is the world. The grave situation apparently exempts none of the habitants of the planet, humans and animals alike.
Every morning as I unfold the newspapers, my optimism vanishes. One of the reasons for that is the media, that highlights the negativity and keeps the achievements locked away in the pages in between. But nonetheless, they are delivering a message. It is only up to us – the citizens of the world – to decide how to pick it up and change the situation.
If we want to. At all.
The world news today revolves around a few factors; rape, racism, environmental hazard, terrorism and Trump; of which terrorism and Trump are the most common.
If the refreshment dose of nuisance by Donald Trump isn’t enough, we sure have the “Islamophobia” to deal with that has lead to the banning of burkini in France.
And this is just a glimpse of what happens with the Muslim men and women around the world. Not to mention the acute terrorism that the infamous ISIS pilots.
Turkey keeps promising to go forward in annihilating ISIS from the root. And Putin vows to kill each and every Muslim in half hour if ISIS kills one Russian. The US keeps bombing. The migrants keep dying.
And we dawdle in between. The fourth-world people we are, perhaps.
The recent verdict claims that mocking about “Bangabandhu” or the PM will sentence us, the common jokers, to a life term imprisonment. On the other side, it has also been suggested that too much protest against Rampal Power Station will cut off the existing electricity we are gulping. A government that is defined to be the controller of the state, is also known as public servant. Their good power is to be used for the people, not against them. But then again, if we come to think of it, as collective citizen, what has the “Notun Projonmo” done for the country?
Our PM sure knows what needs to be done. So, she said this.
In other stories, Mir

Quasem, a notorious war criminal, who staged a torture centre during 1971 like the ones in Germany that was set up by Nazis, was hanged. There were brutal cases against him that suggested that he would run a torture camp in Chittagong and his men would capture freedom fighters, bring them to the camp, torture them inhumanly and kill them. The bodies of the fighters were then dumped in Karnaphuli river. The Mahamaya Dalim hotel in Chittagong was infamously marked as a death centre.
Quasem’s arrest was made in 2012. And he was hanged seven years after the verdict at around 10pm on September 3. With his death, came the relief of the many sons and daughters and grandchildren of the country.
The greater news doesn’t end here. The Bangladesh Women’s football has won matches against Iraq and Taipei, opening the grand entry to the finals of AFC U-16 Women’s Championship. They have certainly brought pride to the women in our country and also for the football lovers like me.
And the law enforcers go on doing their job and they are doing it well! Evidently, another militant who goes by the name Murad had faked his NID to rent two flats simultaneously iu Rupnagar and Narayanganj. According to the newspaper reports, he was the arms provider for the perfidious militant attacks in Gulshan and Sholakia. Nonetheless, he was brought down by our able cops on Friday.
Meanwhile, the fight for climate goes on. In the recent development , US and China have shaken hands to formally join the Paris Climate Change program and save the world.
On the other end of the world, Republican Presidential nominee Donald Trump is running campaign for the African Americans seeking their votes. Reportedly he called the black Americans “His African Americans”.
The world goes on; leaving us in yet another joy and a slice of dilemma. As I write tis, more than half of the citizen of the world follow the news and get up to make their dinner. They are hungry. The dooming world is a mere discussion topic in the dinner table. We all have to go to work tomorrow.

Writer is a poet and essayist.