ISRAEL is meticulously following a textbook model of instigating unrest in the occupied West Bank. The latest such provocations consisted of stripping the Palestinian-run Hebron (Al-Khalil) municipality of its administrative powers over the venerable Ibrahimi Mosque. Worse, according to Israel Hayom, it granted these powers to the religious council of the...
AS BANGLADESH continues to navigate its democratic journey, calls for reforming the electoral system have gained traction. One of the prominent proposals is the introduction of Proportional Representation 鈥� a system designed to ensure that the distribution of seats in the legislature mirrors the percentage of votes each political party receives. While Bangladesh...
EVERY morning, she tied her hair into a perfect bun, pinned on a brooch and stepped out with a smile. In schools and courtrooms, she spoke for the voiceless 鈥� teaching rights, opposing injustice and encouraging young women. But at home, her voice remained quieter. She is just one among countless women silently enduring life in patriarchal households...
IN THE silent shadows of diplomacy and under the smoke of geopolitical cordiality, a darker truth is unfolding at the borderlands between Bangladesh and India. A truth so grotesque, so cruel and so systemic that one begins to question not only the morality of the world鈥檚 largest democracy, but also its very claim to being a civilised, law-abiding state. India, under...
ISRAELIS do not see the images of skeletal corpses of Palestinian children who they have starved to death as a curse. They do not see the slain families they gun down at food hubs 鈥� designed not to deliver aid but lure starving Palestinians into a massive concentration camp in the south of Gaza in preparation for deportation 鈥� as a war crime. Israelis do not look at...
ABU Sayed, a student activist at Begum Rokeya University in Rangpur, was killed on July 16, 2024. The death became a flashpoint in what would grow into the July uprising. While the Awami League government, toppled in the uprising,聽 then claimed that Sayed had been killed with bricks and firearms by other protesters, video footage shared widely on social media...
OVER the past few decades, education has undergone a profound transformation, shifting from rigid, traditional models to more flexible and inclusive approaches. Alternative education 鈥� which includes Montessori and Waldorf schools, homeschooling, online learning and experiential programs 鈥� is increasingly seen as a remedy for the limitations of conventional...
YOU could almost hear the plastic of the television screen bending from the weight of it. Names. Three of them. Bright as blood under fluorescent lights. Allegations. Extortion. Corruption. One crore taka, just like that 鈥� enough to make you choke on your morning tea...
THE bronze sculpture by Marie Uchytilov谩, Memorial to the Children Victims of the War, depicting the 82 children of Lidice murdered at Che艂mno in 1942, serves as a haunting reminder of the barbarity that defined the Nazi-led Lidice massacre. In reprisal for the assassination of Reinhard Heydrich, the Nazis razed the village of Lidice, executed its men, and deported its women and children to death camps...
WHEN a new episode begins in Bangladesh, it often ends not in reform but in distortion. The story of higher education is no different. Public and private universities are said to be growing in number every few years. Yet in a country where even the four major autonomous public universities struggle to recruit talented and committed teachers, there is little...
SMARTPHONES are now ubiquitous fixtures at emergencies and disasters. The moment something terrible happens, a bus crashes on a Dhaka highway, a school building erupts in flames, many bystanders reflexively raise their phones. Instead of rushing to help, some want to capture every horrifying detail for likes and shares...
BANGLADESH is known as one of the most vulnerable countries to the impact of global climate change, but the country is moving fast from the vulnerability to a become climate-resilient society through various policy responses and climate actions at various levels. The country has formulated a set of policies, plans and strategies to address climate change through...
THIS is deplorable that the authorities have failed to address the issues that have rendered Bangladesh Small and Cottage Industries Corporation Industrial Estate 2 in Rajshahi unattractive to entrepreneurs. Launched in July 2022 as a Tk 1.5 billion project, the estate was meant to create 10,000 jobs and stimulate small and medium enterprises in the region. It, however, remains...
A NATION that maims, kills and starves men, women and children is unlikely to survive. Also, leaders of nations who have aided in those atrocities will likely face the same fate...
SUN Tzu鈥檚 The Art of War outlines three ways a ruler can bring misfortune upon the army (the word 鈥榓rmy鈥� in modern context implies the military forces...
