MODERN-DAY slavery remains one of the most shameful stains on our collective humanity. Despite commendable strides in economic and human development, Bangladesh continues to face a grave challenge in the form of labour trafficking. Each year, thousands of Bangladeshi men, women and children are ensnared by false promises, deceptive recruiters...
EID comes every time with some concern for the authorities to attend to. It is mostly the safety of people when they leave the capital city for outlying areas before Eid and when they get back to the city after Eid. So many people travelling at a time burdens the transport network and the system, with traffic accidents taking place, causing fatalities and injuries. The burden...
FLOODING from incessant rain caused by the recent depression in the Bay of Bengal has remained somewhat unchanged while the government鈥檚 disaster management and relief efforts are barely visible. Four of the five north-eastern rivers that were flowing above their danger marks further swelled, as the Flood Forecasting and Warning Centre reported in its last cycle on June...
I HAVE written this article before. In fact, I could write it every year when a new Global Report on Food Crises is published. The report rests on four points: (1) The number of people who are hungry is greater now than last year; (2) the amount of food produced this year is greater than that produced last year; (3) yhere is enough food to feed the total world population...
The concentration of political power in a narrow group of the elite become more than a governance issue. It has raised concern about financial integrity, accountability and democratic resilience. The issue today is how unchecked political domination erodes transparency, weakens institutions and facilitates widespread corruption, effectively transforming political control...
THERE are moments in a nation鈥檚 history when silence bears more weight than slogans. In post-uprising Bangladesh, a country navigating political rupture and renewal after the fall of long-standing authoritarian rule, the language of reform rings loudly across press briefings and policy drafts. Yet parallel to this public performance of transformation runs a quieter, more...
I WAS struck, perhaps not entirely surprised though, when Professor Muhammad Yunus recently noted that only one political party is still actively calling for elections in December. It was a sobering reminder of the dismal state of political pluralism in Bangladesh, a country where democratic aspirations have too often been sacrificed at the altar of elite consensus or...
ALL political parties want a road map for the next general election, regardless of their disagreement over the precise date. All the parties at a meeting of the national consensus commission have demanded an election road map. The chief adviser has stood his ground that the election will be held between this December and June 2026 after reforms for a democratic transition...
THE budget for the 2026 financial year that the finance adviser to the interim government has proposed appears rhetorical, with largely no direction on how to achieve the goals that the budget puts forth. The interim government, which assumed office in August 2024 against the backdrop of a student led mass uprising that had sprung from protests against...
A SMALL Muslim army invaded Sindh as early as the 8th century but arrived as traders in both the Malabar coast and Bengal by the 10th-11th centuries. However, it was only from the 12th that they started arriving as invaders in a big way. Over the...
A COMMON reaction to the criticism of cockfighting is a seemingly unassailable retort: 鈥榊ou eat meat, don鈥檛 you, you do?鈥� But eating meat does not invalidate concern for deliberate animal suffering. I wonder what their go-to question for vegans would...
ON MAY 27, Kuala Lumpur played host to the inaugural ASEAN-GCC-China Economic Summit 鈥� a glossy exercise in diplomacy, anchored in bold declarations and vague promises. In theory, it represents a pivot: away from reliance on an...
ELECTED local government institutions are one of the foundations of democratic governance. Elected representatives face various difficulties in terms of policy, administrative, organisational, legal and financial allocation at different times. In this...
THE death toll from disasters caused by the latest depression from the Bay of Bengal has already climbed to 15, while the government鈥檚 disaster management and relief efforts are not visible. On June 1, landslides killed four members of a family in...
THE delay in resolving the crisis that has engulfed the Dhaka South City Corporation and resulted in the suspension of public services is gravely concerning. Supporters of Bangladesh Nationalist Party leader Ishraque Hossain 鈥� including members of...