PALESTINIANS under Israel鈥檚 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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
IN THE case of 鈥楧r Mohiuddin Farooque v Bangladesh and others鈥� [Writ Petition No 1576 of 1994], the judiciary paved the way for liberalising the doctrine of 鈥榣ocus standi鈥� and broadened access to justice, particularly for vulnerable groups unable to...
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...
WE OFTEN talk about secularism as if it were just another choice on the menu 鈥� 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...
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...
A SINGLE line on social media 鈥� 鈥榮he should be gang-raped鈥� 鈥� 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?...
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...
EVERY year on October 16, the world observes World Food Day. This year鈥檚 theme, 鈥榟and in hand for better food and a better future,鈥� calls for collective effort towards a healthier and more sustainable world. The day holds particular significance this year, as it...
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...
FOR decades, the prevailing notion was that the 鈥榮olution鈥� to the Israeli occupation of Palestine lay in a strictly negotiated process. 鈥極nly dialogue can achieve peace鈥� has been the relentlessly peddled mantra in political circles, academic...
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...
