Is there a Bangalee way to celebrate Pahela Baishakh?
The “Bangalee way” in the sense of a single, linear way is a myth at best, and nationalist propaganda at worst.
13 April 2023
In times of crisis, journalists must double down on facts
Facts, once the prerogative of the media, used to be sacred. Now, they are just fodder in an increasingly hostile war of narratives.
11 April 2023
The UN got it wrong. We’re not just sad, we’re happily so
We toy with the idea of change, but seek accommodation with the status quo.
2 April 2023
Living like the poor, paying like the rich
Inflation followed by greedflation followed by shrinkflation – is there no way out of this trap?
18 March 2023
Awami League wants us to love DSA. It’s too late now
While the manner in which the DSA is being defended is nothing new, the timing bears significance
30 January 2023
Survival of the Noisiest
Living with Dhaka’s noise pollution is a gruelling endurance test.
7 January 2023
Messi, Messier, Messiest
Drink it all in.
19 December 2022
Why politicians should study human rights
For human rights advocates, 2022 has been a catastrophic year.
9 December 2022
In the silos of bureaucrats, public interests are a trifle
To the uninitiated, the public interaction between our prime minister and state officials may seem curious at times.
14 November 2022
Is the EC fighting an unwinnable war?
There are a few possible explanations behind why the EC chose to suspend the Gaibandha-5 by-poll
15 October 2022
Who wants a piece of forest?
Plans to build a prison on forestland show that the country is in environmental free-fall
2 October 2022
How to avert the next level crossing disaster
Despite huge investments being made in the railways, the authorities are struggling to offer decent services thanks to sheer corruption and irregularities.
6 August 2022
Digital Bangladesh: One step forward, two steps back?
“Digital Bangladesh” continues to be a central plank of the ruling Awami League, despite the failure of its techno-utopian Vision 2021.
18 July 2022
Teachers aren’t under siege, but justice, civility and reason are
Here’s an image that will likely be seared into our memory forever: a teacher being forced to wear a garland of shoes around his neck.
2 July 2022
EC’s big nothing: From a crowning moment to a humbling experience
Now that the Cumilla City Corporation (CCC) election is over and everything there was to see and hear has been seen and heard, we need to address the elephant in the room.
21 June 2022
And the Nobel Prize for Violence Goes to…
No, silly, there is no such prize for violence. That’s just a conversation starter. After all, what better way to invoke the mighty Bangladesh Chhatra League (BCL) than with a nod to violence?
7 June 2022
Mega projects, mega dreams: But where is that omelette the government promised us?
The pitfall of measuring development based on macrodata is that it shows the big picture, but fails to account for development achieved, if at all, on a micro/personal level.
29 May 2022
Cumilla polls, a litmus test for EC, and the shadow of drugs
For a party so image-conscious and so demanding of "clean image" from its candidates, Awami League surely knows how to make a muck of things and draw unflattering attention.
20 May 2022
If justice had a face now, it would be of victims wronged twice
The idea of a justice system hinges on people’s faith in its ability to offer fair solutions. So justice, as the saying goes, should not only be done, but be seen to be done as well, so that people’s faith in it is kept intact.
28 April 2022
Hankering for rural contact? Pahela Baishakh isn’t the answer
It’s been quite some time since we’ve had a Pahela Baishakh in the middle of Ramadan. The convergence of the two occasions, not necessarily a clash of ideologies, begs appreciation of life in its many nuances and complexities.
13 April 2022