From Crisis to Cautious Recovery: Bangladesh's Economic Evolution Post-August 2024

Introduction

Between August 2024 and August 2025, Bangladesh underwent a transformative period marked by political upheaval, economic challenges, and significant reforms. The resignation of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on August 5, 2024, amid widespread protests, led to the establishment of an interim government under Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus. This period witnessed a series of events that reshaped the nation's economic landscape.

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Pre-August 2024: Economic Challenges Under Hasina's Tenure

Prior to the political shift, Bangladesh's economy faced mounting pressures:

• Youth Unemployment: Reaching a three-decade high of 16%, youth unemployment became a significant concern, fueling public discontent and protests. ​WSJ

• Inflation: Food inflation soared to 14%, with general inflation at 11%, exacerbated by global economic disruptions and domestic policy challenges. ​Wikipedia

• Foreign Exchange Reserves: Reserves dwindled to $20.18 billion by December 2024, prompting concerns over the country's ability to meet import bills and debt obligations. ​Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD)

• Political Unrest: Protests against job quotas escalated into nationwide demonstrations, leading to a crackdown that resulted in nearly 150 deaths and further destabilized the economy. ​Reuters+1The Guardian+1

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August 2024: Political Transition and Immediate Economic Impacts

The resignation of Sheikh Hasina and the subsequent formation of an interim government led by Muhammad Yunus marked a turning point:

• Interim Government Formation: On August 8, 2024, Yunus was sworn in as Chief Adviser, pledging to restore democracy and implement economic reforms. ​Wikipedia+2Wikipedia+2Wikipedia+2

• Economic Policy Shifts: The new administration prioritized transparency, anti-corruption measures, and restructuring of financial institutions to stabilize the economy. ​

• Flood Disaster: In August 2024, severe floods affected over 5.8 million people, causing damages estimated at Tk144 billion ($1.2 billion), further straining the economy. ​Wikipedia

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Post-August 2024: Economic Reforms and International Engagement

The interim government undertook several initiatives to address economic challenges:

• Monetary Policy Adjustments: The Bangladesh Bank raised the policy rate to 10% to combat inflation, which remained above 11% through late 2024. ​Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD)

• Banking Sector Reforms: Boards of 11 private banks were reconstituted to address mismanagement, though liquidity crises persisted, necessitating Tk22,500 crore in support to six banks. ​Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD)

• Taxation and Revenue Measures: The government canceled provisions allowing the legitimization of undeclared assets and introduced mandatory online income tax return submissions for certain professions. ​Wikipedia

• International Aid and Investment: Bangladesh secured $850 million from the World Bank for infrastructure and social protection projects and received commitments from the European Investment Bank to double funding to €2 billion. ​Reuters

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Challenges and Outlook

Despite reforms, significant challenges remained:

• Inflation Persistence: Food and general inflation rates remained high, impacting the cost of living and economic stability. ​Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD)

• Debt Servicing: Annual foreign debt repayments were projected to reach $4.5 billion in 2025-2026, posing risks to fiscal sustainability. ​

• Political Uncertainty: The absence of a clear timeline for general elections and the formation of new political parties added to the uncertainty affecting investor confidence. ​Wikipedia

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Conclusion

The period following August 5, 2024, was one of significant transition for Bangladesh. The interim government's efforts to stabilize the economy through reforms and international engagement laid the groundwork for recovery. However, persistent challenges such as high inflation, debt servicing pressures, and political uncertainty underscore the need for continued vigilance and strategic policymaking to ensure sustainable economic growth.

Who Was Really Guilty for Kashmir Attacks?

 

Introduction: The Roots of the Kashmir Conflict

The region of Jammu and Kashmir, nestled in the lap of the Himalayas, has been the subject of fierce dispute since the partition of British India in 1947. Historically, Kashmir was a princely state, ruled by Maharaja Hari Singh, a Hindu, despite the majority of his subjects being Muslim. When India was partitioned into India and Pakistan, princely states were given the choice to join either country or remain independent. Hari Singh initially attempted to stay independent. However, the ambitions of both newly formed nations clashed over Kashmir, leading to decades of unrest, wars, and terror attacks.

Understanding who was truly guilty for the numerous Kashmir attacks over the decades requires a deep dive into the historical, political, and military developments that have shaped the region.

The 1947–1948 Tribal Invasion: The First Kashmir Attack

The first major conflict over Kashmir erupted in late 1947. Tribesmen from Pakistan’s North-West Frontier Province (now Khyber Pakhtunkhwa), supported unofficially by the Pakistani military, invaded Kashmir with the aim of forcibly annexing it to Pakistan. These tribal militias, often called "raiders," attacked towns, looted villages, and committed atrocities against civilians.

Faced with the invasion, Maharaja Hari Singh signed the Instrument of Accession to India in October 1947, seeking Indian military assistance. India accepted Kashmir’s accession, sending troops to repel the invaders.

Who was guilty?
Historical documents, including British diplomatic correspondences and Indian records, point to the fact that Pakistan orchestrated the attack, though it initially denied direct involvement. Later, even some Pakistani officials, such as then Foreign Secretary Sir Zafrullah Khan, hinted at their country's role in supporting the tribesmen.

Verdict: Pakistan-backed tribal forces bore the primary guilt for the first Kashmir war.

The 1965 War: Pakistan’s Operation Gibraltar

After the inconclusive end to the first war, tensions simmered for years. In 1965, Pakistan launched Operation Gibraltar, a covert mission designed to infiltrate forces into Jammu and Kashmir to foment an uprising against Indian rule.

The plan backfired. The local Kashmiri population did not revolt as Pakistan had expected. Instead, the Indian Army retaliated, leading to the Second India-Pakistan War.

Who was guilty?
Declassified documents and historians confirm Pakistan initiated the hostilities through Operation Gibraltar. Pakistan’s aim was to internationalize the Kashmir issue by provoking conflict.

Verdict: Pakistan was again the aggressor in this phase of the Kashmir conflict.

1971 War and Aftermath: Kashmir Takes a Backseat

In 1971, the focus shifted away from Kashmir when India and Pakistan fought over East Pakistan (now Bangladesh). Kashmir remained tense but relatively quiet in terms of attacks during the early 1970s and 1980s.

However, the seeds of future violence were being sown during this period, particularly through rising dissatisfaction among Kashmiri Muslims, rigged elections (especially the 1987 election), and political instability.

Rise of Militancy (1989 Onward): Insurgency and Terrorism

In 1989, Kashmir changed dramatically. A full-blown insurgency erupted, fueled by local discontent but heavily supported by Pakistan.

• Pakistan’s Role:
  Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) agency provided training, arms, and funds to militant groups like Hizbul Mujahideen, Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), and Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM).

• Local Discontent:
  While Pakistan supported militancy, it's important to note that genuine grievances among Kashmiris regarding human rights abuses, lack of political representation, and economic marginalization also contributed to the insurgency.

Who was guilty?
Both internal and external forces played roles, but Pakistan’s active sponsorship of armed groups was a major factor in escalating violence.

Verdict: Pakistan-supported militants were primarily responsible for turning Kashmir into a theater of terror from the late 1980s onward.

Major Terror Attacks: A Closer Look

1. Kargil Conflict (1999)

In 1999, Pakistani soldiers and Kashmiri militants crossed the Line of Control (LoC) and occupied strategic heights in Kargil.

• India’s Response: Massive military operation to reclaim lost territory.

• International Response: Global condemnation of Pakistan’s aggression.

Guilty party: Pakistani Army’s Northern Light Infantry (NLI) troops disguised as militants.

Verdict: Pakistan’s military leadership, especially General Pervez Musharraf, was responsible.

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2. Indian Parliament Attack (2001)

On December 13, 2001, five armed terrorists attacked the Indian Parliament in New Delhi, killing security personnel and triggering fears of war between India and Pakistan.

• Groups Involved: Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) and Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT).

• Indian Accusation: These groups were based in Pakistan and received state support.

Who was guilty?
Investigations found evidence linking the attack to Pakistan-based organizations. India mobilized troops along the border in response, leading to a tense standoff.

Verdict: Pakistan-based terror groups, with likely ISI links.

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3. Mumbai Attacks (2008)

Though broader than Kashmir, the 26/11 Mumbai attacks were planned by Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), a group that also operates in Kashmir.

• Attack: 10 militants attacked multiple sites across Mumbai, killing 166 people.

• Investigations: Direct links to LeT’s leadership in Pakistan.

Guilty party: Lashkar-e-Taiba, supported by elements within Pakistan.

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4. Uri Attack (2016)

On September 18, 2016, four heavily armed militants attacked an Indian Army brigade headquarters in Uri, Jammu and Kashmir, killing 19 soldiers.

• Indian Response: "Surgical strikes" across the LoC targeting terror launchpads.

• Responsibility: India blamed Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammed for orchestrating the attack.

Verdict: Pakistan-supported militants were again guilty.

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5. Pulwama Attack (2019)

One of the deadliest terror attacks in Kashmir’s history occurred on February 14, 2019, when a suicide bomber attacked a convoy of Indian paramilitary forces, killing 40 soldiers.

• Group Involved: Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM).

• Investigation: The bomber was a local Kashmiri youth, but the attack was planned and financed by JeM leaders operating from Pakistan.

Verdict: JeM, with Pakistan's sheltering of terrorist infrastructure, bore the guilt.

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International Viewpoints

• United Nations: The UN has consistently urged both India and Pakistan to engage in dialogue. However, it recognizes Pakistan’s support for non-state actors as a major destabilizing factor.

• United States: Multiple U.S. State Department reports have listed Jaish-e-Mohammed and Lashkar-e-Taiba as terrorist organizations and criticized Pakistan for harboring them.

• China: China has often shielded Pakistan diplomatically but even it has occasionally warned against cross-border terrorism.

• Global Think Tanks: Most independent international think tanks conclude that Pakistan’s "deep state" (military and ISI) uses terrorism as a tool of asymmetric warfare against India, particularly in Kashmir.

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The Other Side: Criticisms of India

While Pakistan’s guilt in supporting terrorism is clear, critics also point out issues with India’s approach:

• Human Rights Violations: Allegations of extrajudicial killings, disappearances, and civilian oppression by Indian security forces in Kashmir have fueled resentment.

• Political Mismanagement: Delayed elections, abrogation of Article 370 in 2019, and prolonged military presence have been criticized by many Kashmiris and international observers.

Thus, while Pakistan has been guilty of aggression and terrorism, India's governance failures have sometimes exacerbated the situation.

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Conclusion: Who is Really Guilty?

Throughout the decades-long conflict over Kashmir, Pakistan’s government and military have played the most persistent and aggressive role in instigating violence through:

• Direct invasions (1947, 1965, 1999)

• Sponsoring militant organizations

• Providing safe havens for terrorist leaders

• Supporting cross-border terrorism under the guise of "freedom struggle"

At the same time, internal issues within Kashmir — including political missteps and alleged human rights abuses by Indian forces — have created fertile ground for unrest.

Final Verdict:
The primary guilt for Kashmir attacks — particularly the organized, large-scale violent ones — lies with Pakistan’s state policy of using militancy as an instrument of foreign policy. However, a complete and lasting peace in Kashmir also requires addressing local grievances, ensuring human rights, and creating a politically inclusive environment in the region.

US judge halts Trump plan for rapid deportations to third countries

 

April 18 (Reuters) - A U.S. judge barred the Trump administration from rapidly deporting hundreds if not thousands of migrants to countries other than their own without giving them a chance to show they fear being persecuted, tortured or killed there.

U.S. District Judge Brian Murphy's preliminary injunction on Friday was the latest setback to an immigration crackdown launched by President Donald Trump when he took office on January 20.

The Boston-based judge last month temporarily blocked the administration from fast-tracking deportations, hobbling its ability to remove migrants who in some cases have legal protections preventing them from being sent back to their countries of origin.

The preliminary injunction issued on Friday will keep that order in place until the litigation is resolved. The administration in court filings has already said it plans to appeal Murphy's decision.

When ruling on challenges to government policies, federal judges often issue orders that apply nationwide. Stymied by such decisions, the Trump administration has previously asked the U.S. Supreme Court to narrow nationwide injunctions to cover only those bringing a case.

The decision requires the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to give individuals a "meaningful opportunity" to seek legal relief from deportation before they are sent to third countries.

"The Court has found it likely that these deportations have or will be wrongfully executed and that there has at least been no opportunity for Plaintiffs to demonstrate the substantial harms they might face," wrote Murphy, an appointee of the Republican Trump's Democratic predecessor Joe Biden.

The Department of Homeland Security did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Many of the people deported to third countries are refugees who have been granted protections against returning to their home countries, where they would face persecution or torture, according to Anwen Hughes of Human Rights First, a lawyer for the plaintiffs.

“The protections the court has ordered here are critical to make sure DHS does not turn around and ship them to a third country where they would face the same harms," Hughes said.

In the 2023 fiscal year, 1,769 people subject to final orders of removal were granted limited forms of protection against return to countries where their lives or freedom would be threatened or where they faced a risk of torture.

In February, the Department of Homeland Security instructed immigration officers to review cases of people granted such protections against being removed to their home countries to see if they could be re-detained and sent to a third country.

Immigrant rights groups sued on behalf of a group of migrants seeking to prevent their rapid deportation to newly identified locales.

Judge Murphy voiced concern that without a court order, the administration might carry out deportations in violation of the Convention Against Torture.

The Bookstore That Waited for Rain

 

The rain started the day she left, and it never really stopped. Not in his mind, not in the small town of Hollowbrook, and certainly not in the dim corner of the bookstore where he used to wait for her. Elias had always been the quiet type, the kind you’d walk past on the street without remembering his face, the kind of man who folded his heart too neatly and placed it in envelopes he never sent. His love was like that too—silent, meticulous, unspoken.

Her name was Margo, and she had the sort of voice that made you think of old jazz songs playing in half-empty cafés. She wore chipped nail polish, always in some shade of blue, and her eyes looked like they belonged to someone who had lived too many lives. She walked into his bookstore one summer with a bag full of rain-damp poetry books and a question about a book Elias didn’t even carry. He didn’t remember what she asked for. Only that she smiled when he admitted he didn’t have it.

She came back the next day, and the next, and every day after that for seven months and thirteen days. Sometimes she bought something, sometimes she didn’t. Sometimes she just stood by the window, watching the street, tracing invisible letters on the glass with her finger. Elias never asked why she came. He was afraid that if he named it, whatever it was between them, it would vanish. Like fog when the sun rises.

They shared conversations the way strangers share glances in a train station—fleeting, uncertain, filled with longing. She told him about her grandmother who used to braid her hair, about how she once ran away from home just to see how far she could go on fifty dollars. Elias told her about his father, who used to read him Neruda by candlelight before he disappeared. They talked about everything but the things that mattered most. Like how Elias loved her. And how Margo was already slipping away.

She never said she was sick. Not once. But her voice got quieter. Her skin paler. She started sitting more, walking less. She winced when she laughed too hard, and once, she coughed until her sleeve turned crimson. Elias didn’t ask. He couldn’t. He told himself it was respect. Deep down, it was fear. He knew that some things, once spoken aloud, become irreversible.

One day, she didn’t show up. He waited an hour. Then two. Then all day, his knuckles white around a book he didn’t read. He closed the shop early and walked through the streets as if they might tell him where she went. Hollowbrook was small. People knew each other. But nobody knew Margo. Not really. She was a whisper in the wind, a shadow flickering between lamplights. She left nothing behind except the ghost of her perfume and a worn-out copy of The Bell Jar she had borrowed and never returned.

Elias waited for three days before he finally walked to the address she once scribbled on a napkin. It was a small apartment above a laundromat. The windows were closed, the curtains drawn. He knocked until his hand ached. No answer. He sat on the steps and stared at the rain pooling in the gutter. A neighbor eventually emerged, an older woman with tired eyes and too many grocery bags.

“She left,” she said. “Moved out last night. Took nothing but a suitcase. Didn’t even leave a note.”

Elias wanted to scream. Instead, he said thank you and walked back through the drizzle, each raindrop heavier than the last. That night, he lay on the cold wooden floor of the bookstore and listened to the storm, pretending it was her breathing.

Weeks passed. Then months. The world moved forward in its cruel, indifferent way. The bookstore remained unchanged—dusty, dim, and filled with volumes no one read. People came and went. Elias stayed. He folded her memory into corners of the shop, like bookmarks she forgot to take with her. Sometimes, he thought he saw her reflection in the window, only to find it was his own.

He wrote her letters he never mailed. Hundreds of them. Folded into books she used to touch. He reread the poems she liked until they no longer made sense. Her favorite was “Having a Coke with You” by Frank O’Hara. She once said it was how she wanted to be loved—messily, passionately, unreasonably. Elias loved her like that, just never out loud.

The pathetic thing wasn’t that she left. The pathetic thing was that he never told her not to. That he never told her to stay. That he never asked her where it hurt or why she flinched when she laughed or why she looked at him like she was already saying goodbye.

A year later, a letter arrived. Postmarked from Montreal. No return address. Just his name, written in her uneven scrawl.

“Dear Elias,
I don’t know how to begin this, so I’ll just say what I couldn’t before. I was dying. Still am. The doctors gave me a timeline, like my life was a limited edition book, and I had just a few pages left to turn. I didn’t want you to watch me fade. I didn’t want to become another ghost in your life. You looked too kind for that.
But I loved you. I still do. Not the way people write about in novels, not the kind that’s all fireworks and fate. It was quieter than that. Like the way the bookstore smelled on rainy days. Like how your eyes softened when you looked at me, even when you didn’t say a word.
I wish I’d been braver. I wish you had been too. Maybe in another life.
M.”

Elias cried for the first time in ten years. Not the kind of tears you wipe away quickly. The kind that leave your whole body aching, your ribs sore, like grief had made a home there.

He closed the bookstore for a week. Wandered around Hollowbrook with her letter in his coat pocket, holding it like a relic. He whispered her name to the trees, to the wind, to the mirror. But she never answered.

Eventually, he opened the shop again. Not because he had moved on. But because some people stay even after they leave. Margo had become part of the walls, the shelves, the smell of old paper. She was in every dog-eared page, in the creak of the door, in the quiet hours before closing when the world went still.

Elias grew older. Lines etched themselves into his skin. His hands trembled more when he shelved books. But every year, on the day she left, he’d write her a letter. Sometimes long, sometimes just a sentence. He kept them in a box under the counter. The last one read:

“If you ever come back, I’ll be here. I’ll be the one who never stopped waiting.”

But she never came back.

The world forgot her, as it forgets all things in time. But Elias didn’t. And maybe that’s what love is, in its most pathetic form—not something loud or beautiful or even returned. Just the quiet refusal to forget.

And so he waited. Not for her. But for the sound of the doorbell on a rainy day. For chipped blue nails on a poetry spine. For a smile that once said, “I’m here. I came back.”

But it never came.

And he loved her anyway

470,000 US Agency Credit Cards Deactivated DOGE Says

 

Nearly half a million credit cards used by various federal agencies and officials have been deactivated, the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) announced on April 15.

The organization, which was created by President Donald Trump via an executive order and is led by Elon Musk, wrote in a post on social media platform X that credit cards used by more than 30 agencies had been deactivated as part of its bid to reduce government spending.

“Credit Card Update! The program to audit unused/unneeded credit cards has been expanded to 30 agencies. After 7 weeks, ~470k cards have been de-activated. As a reminder, at the start of the audit, there were ~4.6M active cards/accounts, so still more work to do,” the main X account associated with DOGE said in a post.

A breakdownof deactivated cards included ones used in the Office of Personnel Management, General Services Administration, Department of Labor, Small Business Association, Treasury Department, Commerce Department, Department of the Interior, Education Department, Housing and Urban Development, U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), Holocaust Memorial Museum, Department of Defense, Department of Health and Human Services, State Department, and many others.

In response to DOGE’s statement, Musk wrote on X on Wednesday that “twice as many credit cards are issued and active than the total number of government employees,” a figure that he described as “crazy.”

The latest figure is an increase from the 315,000 credit cards that DOGE said were deactivated in late March, according to a post at the time. In February, the task force initially announced that it had found 4.6 million cards and 90 million unique transactions amounting to around $40 billion in fiscal year 2024.

When it announced the figure in February, DOGE also released a breakdown of several agencies’ year-to-date spending, active accounts, and transaction amounts. For example, the Department of Veterans Affairs had the highest spending at more than $17.3 billion, while the Defense Department was No. 2 at more than $11.2 billion.

The departments of Justice and Homeland Security also each spent more than $1 billion via their credit card accounts, while smaller government agencies and organizations recorded more than $2.3 billion combined in spending.

Since its creation in January, DOGE has targeted different federal agencies to reduce what it calls fraud, waste, and abuse and to downsize the size and scope of the federal government.

But DOGE has faced legal ups and downs. Federal district judges have placed holds on its activities inside various agencies, including the Social Security Administration, the Education Department, and the Treasury Department, among others. Some judges have allowed the group to access government systems or have overturned lower court rulings that barred it from doing so.

This past week, a judge in New York partially lifted a ban that blocked DOGE staffers from using Treasury Department systems, allowing one official with the task force to gain access to the department’s Bureau of Fiscal Services. The ruling came in response to a lawsuit filed by 19 Democrat-led states that said DOGE’s efforts could lead to privacy and national security risks.

On April 15, an official with the State Department confirmed to The Epoch Times that a DOGE staffer is now the acting director of the agency’s Office of Foreign Assistance, which doles out foreign aid and works with USAID.

New York Attorney General Caught in Fraud Trap {the epoch times}

 

The Trump administration this week referred New York Attorney General Letitia James to the Department of Justice (DOJ) for possible criminal charges in connection with alleged mortgage fraud.

A criminal referral sent on April 14 by Federal Housing Finance Agency Director William Pulte alleged that James, a Democrat who filed a civil case against President Donald Trump’s business, falsified business records in federally backed letters to obtain better home mortgages.

“Based on media reports, Ms. Letitia James has, in multiple instances, falsified bank documents and property records to acquire government backed assistance and loans and more favorable loan terms,” the letter from Pulte to Attorney General Pam Bondi and Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche reads.

“This has potentially included 1) falsifying residence status for a Norfolk, Virginia-based home in order to secure a lower mortgage rate and 2) misrepresenting property descriptions to meet stringent requirements for government backed loans and government assistance.”

Pulte alleged that James had claimed she lived in Virginia to purchase a home in Norfolk while serving as the attorney general of New York state, where she must live to remain in her position. James allegedly co-signed a mortgage with her niece, Shamice Thompson-Hairston, to jointly purchase a home in Norfolk. The terms of the mortgage required both to use the home as their primary residence starting on Oct. 30, 2023, for at least a year.

In another incident, Pulte accused James of not accurately representing a description of a piece of property that she owns in Brooklyn in order to meet the requirements for securing a federal loan.

“Ms. James, for both properties listed above, appears to have falsified records in order to meet certain lending requirements and receive favorable loan terms,” Pulte said in the letter.

Pulte’s letter also accused James and her father of signing mortgage documents in 1983, saying they “were husband and wife in order to secure a home mortgage,” adding that she again was listed as “husband and wife” in documents dated May 2000.

“While this was a long time ago, it raises serious concerns about the validity of Ms. James representations on mortgage applications,” the letter reads.

The Epoch Times contacted the New York Attorney General’s office for comment on Thursday and did not receive a response by publication time.

In response to the letter, a spokesperson for her office told media outlets this week that the criminal referral was an attempt to intimidate her.

James is currently “focused every single day on protecting New Yorkers, especially as this Administration weaponizes the federal government against the rule of law and the Constitution,” the spokesperson said. “She will not be intimidated by bullies—no matter who they are.”

In response to Pulte’s allegations, Bondi told Fox News on Wednesday that her office is now reviewing his letter.

“The most I’ve learned about the case, I just learned from you. I saw it on breaking news this morning. This case was sent to us by Bill Pulte,” she said. “No one in my office has read it yet. Of course, we'll be reviewing it. You just told me more than I knew about it so far.”

James has been criticized by Trump on numerous occasions after she filed a lawsuit against his Trump Organization for what she said was over-inflating the values of its properties to obtain better loan terms. A judge last year found that the company committed fraud and ordered it to pay a $454 million judgment, and the matter has been appealed

In September 2024, New York appeals court judges signaled in a hearing on the case that they might limit the judge’s decision. They questioned whether James’s office properly applied the law, with one judge saying that “there has to be some limitation on what the attorney general can do in interfering in these private transactions where people don’t claim harm.”

The Color of Silence

In a sleepy little town nestled between forest and lake, where the fog would kiss the rooftops every dawn, lived a girl who painted silence.

Her name was Liora. She wasn’t deaf, but she hadn’t spoken since she was twelve. People said the silence came after her father vanished into the woods one rainy November morning and never returned. She simply stopped using words, as if each syllable had drowned with him.

Liora expressed herself with brushes and colors instead. Every wall in her small cottage was a canvas. Silence became blue in her world, longing was violet, and hope was golden—rare, like sunlight during winter in that northern town.

Then came Elias.

He arrived on a Monday. People didn’t notice him at first. He rented the small cabin near the lake, the one nobody had stayed in since the old fisherman passed away. Elias had a quiet way of being—like snow falling gently in the dark. He carried a camera everywhere, but never shared his photos. He walked through town like someone chasing something they once dreamed of, but forgot the shape of.

They met at the grocery store, aisle four, in front of the tea section. Liora reached for a box of chamomile the same moment Elias did. Their hands brushed. She looked at him, startled—not because he was handsome, though he was in a kind, weary sort of way—but because his eyes weren’t startled at all. He smiled as if he already knew her.

“Take it,” he said softly.

She didn’t speak. She only shook her head and pushed the box gently toward him.

“Then we share it,” he said.

And that was how their story began—over a box of tea and a shared silence.

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Liora didn’t usually allow people into her world. But Elias wasn’t like others. He didn’t ask her why she didn’t speak. He didn’t try to fix her. He simply showed up. At her doorstep with two mugs of tea. At the edge of the woods with his camera while she painted wildflowers. On the bridge that crossed the river, where he stood beside her as she dropped small stones into the current.

She began to paint differently after meeting him.

Before, her canvases had been full of longing and sorrow. After Elias, new shades emerged. Warm oranges. Curious greens. A sort of wild pink that had no name but made her chest ache in the best way.

He told her stories.

About the places he’d been—India, Iceland, Morocco. About the people he met. He talked about light. How it behaved differently in every corner of the world. How silence felt different, too. “Here, it’s soft,” he said once. “Like a lullaby.”

Liora started leaving notes for him. Small ones. Folded carefully and slipped into his coat pocket or placed under his mug. Just a sentence or two.

“You carry light in your eyes.”

“Do you ever dream in color?”

“What are you running from?”

He never answered directly. But his eyes always did. They flickered with a thousand thoughts he never said aloud.

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One night, during the early snow, he took her hand and led her to the lake. The moon was so bright it turned everything silver.

“I want to show you something,” he said.

He took out his camera and clicked a photo of her standing by the frozen lake, her red scarf blowing in the wind. Then he handed the camera to her.

“Now you.”

She hesitated. Then lifted the camera and captured him—smiling, eyes crinkled, alive in a way that made her chest flutter.

They sat on the bench after that, watching their breath disappear into the cold.

“I wasn’t always like this,” he said, eyes on the stars. “I used to be loud. I used to write music. But then… life happened. People leave. Love dies. Sound becomes noise.”

She reached out, gently touched his hand.

He looked at her.

“You make it quiet again,” he whispered.

And then, she leaned in. Kissed him. Just once. But it said everything.

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Winter wrapped the town in ice, but between Liora and Elias, warmth bloomed. They made a ritual of watching the sunrise. He’d make tea. She’d bring her sketchbook. Some mornings, he read to her—poetry, mostly. And when he wasn’t watching, she’d sketch him. She filled pages with his face. His profile. His hands. The way he smiled when she caught him looking at her.

He never asked her to speak.

Until the day he told her he was leaving.

“It’s just for a while,” he said. “My mother’s ill. She’s in Lisbon. I have to go.”

She nodded. Tried to smile.

“I’ll be back,” he added.

She didn’t cry. Just handed him a folded note before he boarded the train.

“The world is quiet without you. But so am I.”

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The days stretched after he left. She still painted, but the colors faded. Letters arrived every week. Long ones, full of stories. He told her about the sea in Lisbon, how it roared like a lion and whispered like her laugh. He sent photos—sunsets, street musicians, reflections of himself in puddles.

Months passed. Then silence.

No letters. No photos.

Nothing.

Liora waited. The snow melted. Spring arrived. Then summer. The town bloomed, but her heart wilted.

People asked if she was okay. She’d just nod and keep walking.

Then, one rainy day in late August, she walked past the little cabin near the lake.

And he was there.

Standing by the door, soaked, thinner, but still Elias.

She dropped everything and ran.

He caught her, held her like she was made of something sacred.

“I’m sorry,” he whispered. “I didn’t mean to disappear. My mother… she passed. I couldn’t write. I couldn’t breathe.”

She shook her head. Forgiveness was already flowing through her tears.

“I missed you,” he said. “So much it hurt.”

And then, for the first time in years, Liora spoke.

Three small words.

Clear. Soft. Like wind through the trees.

“I love you.”

He froze.

Then he laughed. Cried.

“Say it again,” he begged.

She did.

Over and over.

As if reclaiming every lost word she’d swallowed all those years.

---

They married the following spring, under the cherry tree behind her cottage. Just the two of them and the blossoms. She wore a dress the color of clouds. He wore a grin brighter than the sun.

Together, they painted and photographed their love across the seasons. He built her a studio. She made him an album of all the sketches she ever made of him.

They grew old in that town. Still walking to the lake. Still sipping tea. Still saying “I love you” like a prayer.

And even when his hair turned silver and her hands began to shake, they never forgot how silence had brought them together.

Because sometimes, the loudest love stories…

Are the quietest one