More than 1,100 people, mostly female workers, died trapped in the textile garment factory. Wounds remain open due to slowed-down legal processes. But Caritas Bangladesh with its support programmes manages to be close to those who have lost their parents or have been disabled.
The sector drives the Bangladeshi economy with 85% of total exports and a related industry worth 47 billion dollars. However, many workers are demanding payment of numerous months of arrears and bonuses linked to the festival celebrating the end of Ramadan. The empty promises of company management, with the police repressing the demonstrations.
Piyas Majumder, 22, was shot in broad daylight during a robbery in Kotalipara, Gopalganj. Concerns grow following the violent death, sparking protests among minorities who want greater law enforcement. In the first seven months of the country’s provisional government, the death tool from gang violence reached 119. For Abdul Wahab Minar, December elections are impossible without change.
Youth from around the country travelled to Birishiri, Diocese of Mymensingh, for the gathering promoted by the Bishops' Conference in the Jubilee Year. Archbishop Bejoy N. D'Cruze of Dhaka urges youth “to be more actively engaged in the Church, making it more vibrant and beautiful.”
The 42-year-old nun, of the Associates of Mary Queen of Apostles, has been running the St George dispensary in Sherpur since 2009. She visits 40 patients a day, 90 per cent of whom are Muslim. Infertility and infections are the most common ailments. ‘We don't just offer treatment, but also dignity,’ she told AsiaNews. ‘If we all practised unconditional love, the world would be more beautiful and peaceful’.
Taslima Nasrin, a physician and activist, went into exile in 1994 after extremist groups made threats against her. The head of Bangladesh’s interim government Muhammad Yunus denounced the incident asking police to strengthen security measures. Tensions mounted on social media in the days leading up to the opening of the event.
