Adieu, AB
20 October 2018 Pick of the week
No merit in quotas
20 March 2018 THE MIDDLE PATH
We have secret ties with 'many' Arab states
Afp, Jerusalem
20 November 2017 Middle East
Rohingyas and the cost of kindness
19 September 2017 THE MIDDLE PATH
Social ripples of rape
13 May 2017 THE MIDDLE PATH
An idea whose time has come
11 February 2017 THE MIDDLE PATH
An Unwanted People
14 December 2016 THE MIDDLE PATH
The Fog of War
16 October 2016 THE MIDDLE PATH

Adieu, AB

AB is no more. The nation is in his debt, and there's nothing we can do about it. There are murmured demands for some sort of a national tribute or recognition. If you ask me, a man, who has won over hearts, has no use for medals.
20 October 2018

No merit in quotas

Anyone who has played “alley cricket” will know that it has its own rules: e.g. two “chiefs” get to select players in tandem, and (s)he who sends the ball over the wall must fetch it. Another such rule is that the owner of the bat will have an automatic place on the team. This last provision is an everyday example of a “quota system” where able performers are replaced by those wielding power over the selection process.
20 March 2018

We have secret ties with 'many' Arab states

An Israeli cabinet minister said on Sunday that Israel had covert ties with "many" Arab and Muslim states but was
20 November 2017

Rohingyas and the cost of kindness

It is certain that the present Rohingya sensation will soon die down, and be replaced in public memory by something far more banal.
19 September 2017

Silence Of Friends: Activism in the Modern Era

Social media has opened floodgates of unexamined causes and unstoppable rebels. With the license to post/share anything and zero accountability, young men and women have taken to protests and activism over anything and everything.
12 June 2017

Social ripples of rape

When alleged rapist Shafat Ahmed and accomplice Shadman Sakif were arrested, and the former's father brought under investigation, I had decided not to write about the rape incident that took place in a hotel in Banani.
13 May 2017

An idea whose time has come

A great example of citizens failing to arrest political devolution is how a mediocre businessman – with a bad toupée, vocabulary of a fifth grader and freakishly small hands – danced his way to the American presidency.
11 February 2017

An Unwanted People

The International Community seems to be unable, if not unwilling, to adequately respond to the recent escalation in Rohingya persecution. Long before this crackdown, apartheid conditions prevailed for the Muslim minority.
14 December 2016

Demonetisation: A Noteworthy Modification

India's sudden-death demonetisation resembles a gamble: it will either be a big win or a catastrophic fail. Perhaps it is this realisation that keeps the administration squarely in the PM's corner.
20 November 2016

The Fog of War

2005: the War on Terror was in its third year. Hundreds of tonnes of explosives had pummeled Iraq and Afghanistan, and thousands
16 October 2016

What's in a frame?

It was always destined to become iconic: an image of blood-red streams flowing through a cityscape. The city was Dhaka and the
19 September 2016

A Dramatic Fall

Tania, Tania, Tania!" a ponytailed musician-type claps furiously. He is apologising to his girlfriend. His face looks as though it were
11 September 2016

Cornered men and toxic masculinity

Just after we had graduated to secondary school, a new boy joined our class. This new entrant was of pale, white complexion,
10 September 2016

A marriage of ideals and realities

In reality, a village father does not care about Bangladesh's commitments at the Girl Summit 2014; he cares about his daughter, and his social standing. Integrally linked to this sense of honour are cultural ideas like virginity or purity.
5 August 2016

The post-crisis rumour mill

During an unprecedented attack like the one at Holey Artisan Bakery, crisis management is of utmost priority.
10 July 2016

A Night of Terror

So, a night of absolute terror preceded the glorified Night of Power this Ramadan. And it has left Dhaka in a stupor; in a dazed state of disbelief and heartbreak.
3 July 2016

ViralSlide: Does 'Virality' Matter?

Take a look at the news-stories that really stirred our civic discourse in 2016: Rampal, central bank heist, teacher's humiliation by lawmaker or Tonu's murder. Think back another year: remember the #RichKids incident where a drunken teen (a former MP's nephew)
18 June 2016

Bring Back Our Girls

Sabira has been adequately framed as a 'model' and something of a 'wildcard' - who didn't care much about social norms. Her final video, featuring her in a slightly incoherent, vulnerable state, has been branded by online media sites and uploaded endlessly for public display. Not a single voice suggested that her privacy be respected.
30 May 2016

A Reasonable Vice

A former family chauffeur was recently suspended from his beloved 'government job'.
15 May 2016

Can climate gather steam?

When a car spontaneously caught fire in Dhaka last week, allegedly from a heated engine, social media comments invoked the ongoing heat-spell.
2 May 2016