How reality is controlled in the age of digital disinformation
3 May 2026
There is a significant overlap, as we are essentially describing the spread of authoritarian propaganda techniques in democracies, accelerated by the technologies of the digital age.
3 May 2026
‘The Fourth Estate will not survive unless defended’
2 November 2025
Martin Moore and Thomas Colley, authors of Dictating Reality: The Global Battle to Control the News (2025), discuss how governments worldwide manipulate the media, reshape public perception, and construct competing realities in an age of digital disinformation. The interview was conducted by Shamsuddoza Sajen of The Daily Star.
2 November 2025
Reading power: How everyday texts shaped life under the British Empire
28 October 2025
At the heart of Required Reading are forgotten readers from the past.
28 October 2025
Opinion / Whom will the Awami League supporters vote for?
16 October 2025
The Awami League (AL) is very likely to haunt the entire exercise.
16 October 2025
A voice of resistance, progressive thought falls silent
7 September 2025
Badruddin Umar, the eminent public intellectual, historian, and political activist, passed away in Dhaka yesterday at the age of 94. He breathed his last at Bangladesh Specialised Hospital, Shyamoli, around 10:05am. He was suffering from old-age complications.
7 September 2025
Badruddin Umar speaks / 'We must not lose focus from real political barriers'
7 September 2025
Hasina took dynasty politics to levels we could not have ever imagined. What happened to Sheikh Mujib’s former residence was unfortunate. But I would say that Sheikh Hasina is partly responsible for the incident.
7 September 2025
The 36th day of July / August 5, 2024: The day the people triumphed
4 August 2025
August 5 became a watershed in Bangladesh’s history -- the climactic peak of the July uprising.
4 August 2025
The July that rocked Bangladesh / August 4, 2024: The deadliest day of the uprising
3 August 2025
August 4, 2024 marked the deadliest day of Bangladesh’s student-led uprising, as the non-cooperation movement entered an explosive new phase.
3 August 2025
Indomitable March: Withdraw forces, transfer power
At a meeting organised at Paltan Maidan, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman urged the authorities to withdraw forces from the city and hand over power to the elected representatives of the people.
2 March 2024
The future of India-Maldives relations
The Maldives cannot afford to overlook India entirely.
23 January 2024
Climate change and unplanned development are creating a new set of damaging risks
Unplanned urbanisation and climate change create compounding, unprecedented risks for the vulnerable urban poor across the global South.
24 December 2023
How will the Pannun 'murder plot' affect India-US relations?
The Biden administration appears to be isolating the murder plot.
5 December 2023
The MP craze
"Every scoundrel wants to be a poet; ants are hell-bent on flying / The jungle's tusked boars lay claim to the highest throne."
23 November 2023
Decoding India-US disagreements over Bangladesh's election
This alignment between India and China on Bangladesh's elections is quite unique in the context of South Asia
13 November 2023
Is this the model for the 2024 national election?
The by-elections in Laxmipur-3 and Brahmanbaria-2 have once again laid bare the grim political reality of Bangladesh, all while the country is just about two months away from its national election.
8 November 2023
What's wrong with the US response to the Gaza crisis
On October 18, US President Joe Biden travelled to Israel, offering support for its military operations in the Gaza Strip, despite growing global calls for a ceasefire.
24 October 2023
Bangladesh elections and China-India rivalry
In the upcoming election, if the ruling party emerges victorious, Chinese influence may strengthen even further.
17 October 2023
Who will be responsible if Khaleda Zia’s health takes a fatal turn?
The way the AL-led government has been handling Khaleda Zia's treatment issue lacks political courtesy and reeks of vengeance.
11 October 2023
The Struggle for Justice and Dignity
The labour movement in Bangladesh has a rich and complex history that dates back to the 19th century.
30 April 2023
Vilification of a well-known scholar is a threat to us all
The lack of protest against this undemocratic move is also concerning.
20 April 2023
The genocide of March 25 as a metaphor
Pakistan is the metaphor of everything Bangladesh doesn't want to be.
24 March 2023
Reading as a form of resistance: Some anecdotes from the 1971 war
After the war, the library authorities placed advertisements requesting people to return any books from the library that they might have in their possession, but the response was poor. The library's hundred-year-old collection was lost forever.
23 March 2023
Rakhine is boiling again. Will we look away?
After a two-year pause, the conflict between the Arakan Army (AA) and Myanmar’s military junta has resurged in Rakhine.
27 October 2022
Can we reimagine rivers before it is too late?
It is a tragic irony that riverine Bangladesh has become the land of dying rivers.
24 September 2022
When the state defeats its people
The draconian Digital Security Act (DSA) strikes again, and most worryingly, in collusion with communal bigotry.
13 September 2022
PM Hasina’s India visit 2022: Will India ever reciprocate our favour?
This time also, there is no major gain from PM Hasina's visit.
7 September 2022
What impact did the Partition have on Dhaka's book trade?
The impact of the 1947 Partition was felt in every aspect of Dhaka's printing and publishing business, and the book trade in the new provincial capital took a momentous turn. How did it impact the booksellers, printers, and the material being published?
26 August 2022
How Partition impacted the Dhaka book trade
With the expansion of the publishing business, bookshops also sprang up in various parts of Old Dhaka, particularly in Chawkbazar, Islampur, Mughaltuli and Patuatuli. It is estimated that the number of bookshops in Dhaka till 1900 were no less than 40.
19 August 2022