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Opinion


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Palestine’s voices and Israel’s Gaza genocide

PALESTINIANS under Israel’s 24/7 aerial bombings and food, fuel, medicine, and water obstructions after the Hamas attacks on settlers of October 7, 2023, are also victims of relentless propaganda. It targets their humanity, portraying them as...

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Motorbikes, middle class and mobility

MY MOST recent trip to Bangladesh took me to our ancestral home in Chilmari in Kurigram district, where my elderly parents live. After spending a couple of days in this place of my birth, childhood and schooling, I was going to travel to Rangpur en route to...

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Quality early-year education

BANGLADESH has made commendable progress in primary, secondary and higher education over the past few decades. However, when it comes to the quality of education, serious concerns remain. The decentralisation of education has not...

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Politics of policy process

PUBLIC policy-making is a complex, multi-layered process that involves how governments identify issues, develop solutions and implement them to achieve socio-economic goals. In Bangladesh, this process is both dynamic and intricate, shaped by...

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Plenty of resources but less privileged

SATKHIRA is a district situated in the southwest of Bangladesh bordered by West Bengal of India and the Bay of Bengal. It is a place full of natural beauty, rich culture and heritage and enormous economic potential. The world-famous Mangrove Forest...

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Justice on paper, pollution in reality

IN THE case of ‘Dr Mohiuddin Farooque v Bangladesh and others’ [Writ Petition No 1576 of 1994], the judiciary paved the way for liberalising the doctrine of ‘locus standi’ and broadened access to justice, particularly for vulnerable groups unable to...

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We still need post office

ONCE a symbol of trust and connection, the post office was at the heart of every town, rural union and household memory. For generations, it carried more than letters; it carried emotions, news and the lifelines of communication. But with the...

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Secularism: no app, but operating system

WE OFTEN talk about secularism as if it were just another choice on the menu — one more application alongside religions, ideologies and philosophy people live by. That is a mistake. Secularism is not an application. It is the operating system, the...

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MSME awakening Health to wealth

AMONG many challenges, Bangladesh is contending with two severe crises: a deteriorating public health system plagued by vector-borne diseases, tainted food and pollution, and, on the other side, a skyrocketing unemployment rate fuelling socio-economic...

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Two dimensions of the word ‘rape’

A SINGLE line on social media — ‘she should be gang-raped’ — rattled the halls of Dhaka University last month. It was not muttered in private, nor scribbled in secret. It was posted publicly about a young woman running for student union elections. The punishment?...

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Return to Bagram

THE history of foreign invasion in Afghanistan is a chronicle of imperial hubris and strategic misadventure. Britain burnt its fingers in the 19th and the early 20th century. The Soviet Union exited in shame after a decade of brutal occupation...

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Unsafe food, broken laws

EVERY year on October 16, the world observes World Food Day. This year’s theme, ‘hand in hand for better food and a better future,’ calls for collective effort towards a healthier and more sustainable world. The day holds particular significance this year, as it...

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MPO educators deserve dignity, not disregard

ON OCTOBER 12, hundreds of MPO-listed teachers once again gathered at the National Press Club in Dhaka, beginning their continuous sit-in to demand fair compensation. The demonstration started peacefully, but soon turned tense as police used...

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Defeat of Israel and rebirth of Palestinian agency

FOR decades, the prevailing notion was that the ‘solution’ to the Israeli occupation of Palestine lay in a strictly negotiated process. ‘Only dialogue can achieve peace’ has been the relentlessly peddled mantra in political circles, academic...

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US intervention and religious extremism in Muslim world

IN THE political landscape of the 20th and 21st centuries, few forces have shaped the Muslim world as profoundly as US intervention. Behind the rhetoric of democracy and freedom lay a deeper geopolitical logic: the containment of socialism and...