The gig economy’s convenience has an unseen toll

Bangladesh's gig economy, such as ride-sharing, food delivery, courier services, has mushroomed in the last decade.
19 December 2025, 08:00 AM

Is selective amnesia the price of a new Bangladesh?

In the bargain for a new future, I did not consent to the erasure of the history that made this republic possible.
19 December 2025, 07:45 AM

Bauls, ballots, and the price of weak institutions

The surest sign of a liberal democracy is not a flag, nor a constitution framed behind glass. It is the quiet competence of institutions—and the political culture that keeps them honest. One shapes the other the way a river shapes its banks, and the banks, in turn, discipline the river.
19 December 2025, 05:00 AM

Phulbari coal, power crisis, and a dangerous revisionism

Regarding the Phulbari Open-Pit Coal Mining Project, the chief adviser's press secretary recently made a Facebook post suggesting that Bangladesh is facing a severe power crisis because coal at Phulbari was not extracted.
19 December 2025, 03:00 AM

Advancing safe, fair, and affordable labour migration

More than 1.3 crore Bangladeshi workers support economies across the Gulf, Southeast Asia, and beyond.
18 December 2025, 07:45 AM

Outcome of COP30 does not bode well for climate diplomacy

The 30th Conference of the Parties (COP30) to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) produced a lacklustre outcome by any measure, as reflected in many post-COP analyses. This remains significant because COP outcomes continue to shape the direction, pace, and credibility of global climate diplomacy, even when they fall short.
18 December 2025, 06:00 AM

How power and profit paralyse Dhaka’s transport system

The limited success of technical transport plans in Dhaka is a predictable outcome of deep-seated political-economic dynamics.
18 December 2025, 05:00 AM

Bangladesh’s flag belongs on the world’s shipping lanes

The strongest national interest lies elsewhere: expanding employment and training opportunities for Bangladeshi cadets and officers.
18 December 2025, 03:00 AM

How data science can shape our financial future

"Data is the new oil," a truth the world has embraced, but Bangladesh is still learning to harness its potential. From banks predicting loan defaults to democratising access to healthcare through telemedicine and health apps, the scope of data science across socio-economic and public sectors is vast.
17 December 2025, 08:00 AM

Rajuk’s short-sighted DAP puts millions at risk in a major quake

Unplanned urbanisation, violations of the National Building Code and the Detailed Area Plan (DAP), and rampant filling of wetlands with sand for housing projects have made Dhaka the riskiest city in the country.
17 December 2025, 06:00 AM

The nuisance of distorting Begum Rokeya’s legacy

When I first heard about the desecration of Roquiah Sakhawat Hossain, popularly known as Begum Rokeya, at Dhaka University in the aftermath of the July uprising,
17 December 2025, 05:00 AM

Mischievous manipulation of established historical facts

The razakar, Al-Badr, Al Shams and similar groups, who collaborated with the Pakistani army, will always be remembered for their sinister role during 1971.
17 December 2025, 02:00 AM

The war I never saw, but inherited

The trauma of surviving a genocide is passed down through generations.
16 December 2025, 06:00 AM

The unhealed wounds of 1971: Bangladesh's unfinished liberation

The 1971 Bangladesh Liberation War was not merely a military conflict; it was a civilisational rupture that tore through the social fabric of an entire nation, leaving scars that have never properly healed.
16 December 2025, 05:00 AM

Victory Day and the republic we owe ourselves

The erosion of democracy became most pronounced between 2014 and 2024.
16 December 2025, 03:00 AM

Preserving 8 Theatre Road: Our Liberation War’s nerve centre

In the heart of Kolkata, at 8 Shakespeare Sarani—formerly known as 8 Theatre Road—stands a building whose walls once echoed with the pulse of a nation's liberation.
15 December 2025, 20:00 PM

The unfinished story of our liberation

My own act of resistance was small. It came in the form of a tiny pebble thrown at a military jeep passing through our town.
15 December 2025, 06:00 AM

How RTI activists keep the law alive

Rather than retreating in the face of bureaucratic inertia, these RTI warriors have adopted a strategy of persistence.
15 December 2025, 05:00 AM

Custodial torture remains business as usual

According to a recent Odhikar report, 40 people have been victims of extrajudicial killings in the 14 months since the interim government took office in August 2024.
15 December 2025, 03:00 AM

The NHRC ordinance saga: One step forward, two steps back

Bangladesh's rights watchdog, the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), has been toothless and ineffective since its formation.
15 December 2025, 02:00 AM