The gulf as saudi arabia and iran work the media machinery. The numbers game, the u. S. Media and the addiction to political polls. In dakar, bangladesh convicts and sentences those guilty of murdering a secular blogger, and. Its a jungle in there. New years resolutions and the survival of the fittest at the gym. On january 2nd, when 47 executions took place in saudi arabia, including that of a shia cleric nimr alnimr, the diplomatic fall out between the kingdom and its regional to was played out. The National Narrative prevailed. The the execution of the sheikh was seen as part of a justified war on terrorism. In the islamic republic. The headlines cast the cleric as a dissident, the saudi action as a provocation, there was televised images of protesters ransacking the Saudi Arabian embassy. The development with saudi arabia and its regional allies severing diplomatic ties with tehran threatened to disrupt the process iran made on the International Stage this past year. Following the
Shahbagh movement: If anybody tried to label this movement as an apolitical one, that would not be appropriate at all. A deep-rooted political culture of protest pushed the people to a spontaneous protest throughout the country, and the Bangalee diaspora replicated that too. I think 2013 was a transitional point that forced our youth to give a serious thought to politics again.