Meet My Country: Bangladesh, With Sara Hossain and Dr. Faraha Nawaz

Supreme Court lawyer Sara Hossain and academic Dr. Faraha Nawaz talk about their homeland Bangladesh – one of the world’s most crowded countries. Bangladesh has been going through remarkable developments since the 1990s. Millions have been pulled out of poverty, the garment industry has flourished, and before the pandemic, economic growth exceeded 7% for four years in a row, outpacing not just Pakistan and India, but even China. This development is, however, contrasted with a complicated political and human rights situation and an erosion of democratic institutions, as our speakers point out.

3:03 Background information on Bangladesh

5:38 Sara and Faraha’s views on Bangladesh, and where it stands today 

11:10 The incredible development the country has undergone since the 1990s

15:02 About women in Bangladesh and some national politics, which also have been shaped mainly by women in recent years

29:38 Sara and Faraha’s recommendations on places to visit and food to try in Bangladesh

Your host: Denise Staubli, Program Manager, Asia Society Switzerland
Moderator: Nico Luchsinger, Executive Director, Asia Society Switzerland
Speakers:
Sara Hossain, Barrister at the Supreme Court of Bangladesh, Partner at the law firm of Dr. Kamal Hossain and Associates, pro bono Honorary Executive Director of the Bangladesh Legal Aid and Services Trust
Dr. Faraha Nawaz, Associate Professor at the University of Rajshahi, Bangladesh
Production: Denise Staubli

Show Notes

National Fish Hilsa 

Roadside snacks, such as Singara

Cox's Bazar – the longest sea beach in the world

Saint Martin Island

Hilly areas in the Rangamati and Bandarban districts

Bangladesh’s many and large rivers amongst the biggest in the world, such as the Brahmaputra 

Leading newspapers in English, such as the Daily Prothom alo

The Colonel Who Would Not Repent, by Salil Tripathi about the Bangladeshi war

Books written by Shaheen Akhtar, who has won numerous awards for her fiction about Bangladesh's history and women's experience

Microfinance and Women’s Empowerment in Bangladesh by Dr. Faraha Nawaz, 2019

Confronting Constitutional Curtailments: Attempts to Rebuild Independence of the Judiciary in Bangladesh by Sara Hossain, in Paul Brass (ed) Handbook of Politics in South Asia, Routledge, 2010

Rohingya Refugee Women and Girls: Remedies and Responses to Sexual and Gender based Violence in Bangladesh by Sara Hossain and Sajeda Amin, in Imtiaz Ahmed (ed) The Rohingya Refugee Crisis: Towards Sustainable Solutions, Dhaka, 2019  

Asia Society Switzerland webcast A Closer Look at Bangladesh with Dr. Faraha Nawaz and Sara Hossain, June 17, 2021