Can we build a digital world where women are not erased?
10 December 2025
The digital space, which should have unsettled hierarchies, has instead operationalised them.
10 December 2025
United in misogyny?
6 March 2025
Our misogynistic attitude towards women is so normalised that it moves seamlessly across political parties, economic classes, and generational divides.
6 March 2025
Echoes of colonialism in Bangladesh
21 August 2024
In navigating colonialism, we have to ask ourselves, who is striving for control.
21 August 2024
Fear, loss and isolation
9 October 2021
Humans are social creatures. While all animals have a need to communicate, none have quite the same ability or need to organise themselves into communities the way humans do.
9 October 2021
Citizens’ participation in formulating health policies can be a game changer
10 August 2021
In the olden days, in the city best known as a democratic city-state, where, arguably, the concepts of citizenship and democracy emerged, there was something called Ecclesia. Here,
10 August 2021
Finding the fingerprint of creation
30 May 2020
I started to write this on the night that is deemed the holiest night of the holiest month of the year by Muslims.
30 May 2020
Learning Forgiveness / Reflections from a conversation with the Dalai Lama
17 November 2019
Is forgive-ness a phenomenon that is learned or is it something that some of us are inherently better at than others?
17 November 2019
Inside a sadist's mind
Raped on a bus, killed and thrown off on the street. Raped on Eid. Raped at a party. Head shaved by family members after rape. We read, we vent, we discuss, we forget, we are reminded again the next day. And worse things keep happening.
12 September 2017
The ugly face in the mirror
Maybe 15-year-old Rima will not be seen as a child by some, given the ambiguity that surrounds the legal age of consent. Maybe her suicide, after being accused of immoral behaviour, will not be seen as a crime perpetuated by society but rather something she did to herself.
30 August 2017
Legal system needs to be more child-friendly
One of the most pressing and least addressed problems facing the nation currently is the increasing violence against children. Some children, such as those engaged in domestic work, are more vulnerable to abuse than others. Shagufe Hossain of The Daily Star talks to Salma Ali, Executive Director of Bangladesh National Women Lawyers' Association, to further explore the issue.
20 August 2017
The invisible cost of roads and bridges
The perpetrators would not be held accountable because as soon as the deed was done, they had the luxury of leaving the area. Their job gave them mobility, a freedom that was paid for by others.
15 August 2017
Mental illness: A heavy burden on the labour market
Interestingly though, most people in Bangladesh would not consider mental health a disease. It raises hope, therefore, that the conversations about mental health, are beginning to occur in the context of general health issues as has been on the occasion of World Health Day on the 7th of April this year.
5 August 2017
Madrassahs: The invisible link in achieving equity
Since the World Conference on Women in Mexico in 1975, Bangladesh has been at the forefront among the least-developed countries (LDCs) in addressing gender disparities. The country's achievements in education and gender parity in education, has also been remarkable. However, despite its success in achieving gender parity in many areas, some sections of the population have been left behind. One such section is female students in madrassah schools.
20 June 2017
WHAT ARE YOU WEARING?
The world has made it so that existing as a woman has become an act of political warfare.
24 March 2017