THE years following Sheikh Hasina鈥檚 return to power in 2009 marked not merely a political shift but the construction of an entirely new order. What appeared at first as a democratic mandate soon revealed itself as a project of consolidation 鈥� an appropriation of state institutions into the service of dynastic authority. Bureaucracy and the armed forces, traditionally...
THERE are storms you sail into. And there are storms you spend a lifetime watching from the shore 鈥� knowing full well that the sea doesn鈥檛 care whether you鈥檙e a sailor or a spectator. I chose the Navy in 1986, not because I was drawn to the romance of ships or the poetry of the horizon, but because I needed order. Discipline. A world where loyalty was not a transaction...
Bangladesh Nationalist Party secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir on Friday alleged that a conspiracy was going on to replace liberal politics with extremist politics in the country.
Cyber-bullying and smear campaigns targeting candidates, particularly females, have emerged as a disturbing trend in the run-up to the Jahangirnagar University Central Students鈥� Union elections, raising concerns about inclusivity and the safety of female participants in campus politics...
THE Trump administration is currently attempting to rewrite American history by whitewashing the country鈥檚 negative legacy and scrubbing out references to anything connected to multiculturalism or diversity...
The Bangladesh Jatiyatabadi Chhatra Dal, the student wing of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party, on Monday demanded a law to ban 鈥榗landestine politics鈥� in all educational institutions across the country...
THE proposition to ban student politics in universities is ahistorical and not only disregards the glorious contributions of student politics in the country鈥檚 history but also seeks to rob students of their democratic voice. While such a proposition has long been put forward by a section of people, the controversy surrounding student politics appears to have resurfaced...
Most of the student organisations on Sunday opposed the 鈥榗landestine politics鈥� of Islami Chhatra Shibir on the Dhaka University campus...
President Donald Trump said Tuesday that major US banks had turned down his business as part of an alleged pattern of political discrimination against conservatives that right-wing figures have long claimed...
A section of general students of Dhaka University and student organisations are now at loggerheads over hall-based politics as the university authorities on early Saturday reiterated that both open and covert political activities would remain banned in the residential halls.
Dhaka University vice-chancellor Professor Niaz Ahmed Khan on Saturday said that the decision taken last year to keep halls free from student politics would remain in force...
Dhaka University students staged demonstrations on early Saturday demanding ban on politics in dormitories...
Bangladesh Nationalist Party acting chair Tarique Rahman on Sunday called for a qualitative shift in national politics and student activism, saying that the people of Bangladesh demanded change beyond the era of fugitive autocrat...
Chattogram-based politicians observed on Saturday that the country鈥檚 political parties had yet to formally adopt a gender equality charter to ensure women鈥檚 meaningful participation in politics and economy, despite women having historically played a central role in Bangladesh鈥檚 social and political movements...
WHILE the youth leaders of the victorious July uprising against the autocratic regime of Awami League, a year ago, announced that the spirit of their struggle was to establish a democratic polity and, that too, in the light of Bangladesh鈥檚 historic promise to establish equality, human dignity and social justice, the Jamaat-e-Islami and its political allies at a huge gathering on July...
IN THE political history of Bangladesh, election periods have always been of paramount importance. From the Pakistan Movement to the birth of Bangladesh, the mass uprising of the 1990s, or the aftermath of the 2024 鈥楯uly Uprising鈥�, the right to vote has consistently been at the centre of political discourse. Although the three elections after 1990 were considered free...
WHEN Sheikh聽Hasina鈥檚 16-year hold on Bangladeshi politics snapped during the student-led uprising in July-August, 2024, few in South Block were prepared for the geopolitical whiplash that followed. After she escaped to India, the interim government of Bangladesh demanded the extradition of Hasina, which India has so far rejected. This, along with hundreds of other...
COLLEGES and universities are caught in a moral and political dilemma. Students are encouraged, on the one hand, to engage in party-affiliated or factional campus politics. And, on the other hand, that very political involvement becomes a black mark when they apply for government jobs. Many of us advocate student politics on campus, yet the same political affiliations...
HISTORY, for all its weight, often sits uneasily in the present. In Bangladesh, that tension has resurfaced with the recent revival of the International Crimes Tribunal and the sweeping amendments passed on May 11. On paper, the goal remains the same: justice for grave crimes. But peel back the legalese, and what emerges is a murky debate...
THE politicisation of police and the exertion of political control over law enforcement undermine the integrity and impartiality of policing. When police forces become subject to political influence, their priorities may shift from enforcing the law equitably to serving the interests of particular political groups or individuals. This erosion of neutrality can lead to selective...
THE picturesque town of Pahalgam, once fondly dubbed the 鈥楽witzerland of India,鈥� now bears the weight of a tragedy that marks a troubling shift in India鈥檚 socio-political landscape. The deadly gun attack in this Himalayan resort town, which claimed the lives of at least 26 people, including foreign nationals and a naval officer, is not merely another terror incident. It is a...
In the dimly lit corridors of the developing world鈥檚 politics, truth often walks with a limp 鈥� scarred, bent, and barely audible 鈥� while power parades in a blinding spotlight, gilded with slogans, spectacles, and silence. The question 鈥� what holds more value in political culture, 鈥榩ower鈥� or 鈥榯ruth鈥�?鈥攎ay appear philosophical, but its answer, as Nobel Laureate Paul Krugman...
ANGLADESH is in urgent need of a democratic transition. It is pertinent to commence this discussion by examining global examples of democratic transitions in previously undemocratic states. Such transitions have typically been made possible through four key measures: prioritising national interests above political considerations, eliminating hegemonic influences from...
THE shifting tides of global politics have always been dictated by the convergence of interests among great powers. Recently, a new strategic alignment has emerged 鈥� one that promises to redefine the balance of power and reshape international relations. The growing understanding between US president Donald Trump and Russian president Vladimir Putin...
SINCE the Communist Revolution in 1949 till February 1972, the United States has not recognised Mao Zedong鈥檚 China. It has accepted the People鈥檚 Republic of China (Taiwan) as the legitimate Chinese government. In 1953, the Soviet Union and China together fought a war on the Korean peninsula against the US-led coalition. The Soviet Union and China fell apart...
DONALD Trump in the United States is showing how, in a democratic polity, the winner of the people鈥檚 mandate can become an unstoppable extreme force. Critics of the National People鈥檚 Power government frequently jibe at the government鈥檚 economic policy as being a mere continuation of the essential features of the economic policy of former president...
THE decision of the Khulna University of Science and Technology to uphold the ban on student politics amid clashes allegedly between Jatiyatabadi Chhatra Dal, the student wing of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party, and the Students Against Discrimination appears shortsighted and it carries the risk of curtailing students鈥� right to organise on campus. The clashes took place...
THE clash between the Jatiyatabadi Chhatra Dal, the student wing of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party, and the Students Against Discrimination, which led the July-August uprising that toppled the Awami League government, at the Khulna University of Engineering and Technology on February 18 is shocking. The clash, which reportedly broke out over an altercation...
The authorities of Khulna University of Engineering and Technology on Wednesday upheld its previous decision to ban student politics on the campus amid a tense situation over Tuesday鈥檚 clash between Bangladesh Nationalist Party鈥檚 student wing Jatiyatabadi Chhatra Dal and Students Against Discrimination...
Tension gripped Khulna University of Engineering and Technology campus on Wednesday morning a day after clashes between general students and Bangladesh Nationalist Party鈥檚 student wing Chhatra Dal over the demand of banning student politics...