IT IS an eternal reality that societies cannot remain static. Change is inevitable, sometimes forced upon people by the sheer weight of history, sometimes demanded through the sweat and sacrifice of ordinary citizens who dare to imagine a better tomorrow. From ancient times to the present, upheavals have marked the path of humanity. Yet one question lingers like an...
EARLIER this month, scholars working at the London School of Economics argued, 鈥業t鈥檚 time to face up to power in the debate about wealth inequality.鈥� The authors note that of the various ways we could frame the problem of inequality, the framing that has most resonance with people 鈥榝ocuses on the problem of Unfair Influence. That is, it places the emphasis on...
IT HAS been one year since our father, ambassador Serajul Islam (Shobuj, as he is widely known), passed away. And one year since Bangladesh charted her course for a better future. I don鈥檛 believe in coincidences, but sometimes history and grief collide in ways that feel undeniably meaningful. Our father devoted his life to the idea that Bangladesh could and must do...
Donald Trump on Tuesday is celebrating the first 100 days of what is already one of the most radical and impactful presidencies in US history, as polls show Americans are becoming disenchanted with the economic and political tumult.
EACH year, on March 25, the world pauses to observe International Day of Remembrance of the Victims of Slavery and the Transatlantic Slave Trade, an occasion that commemorates one of the most brutal and dehumanising chapters in history. This remembrance is not merely symbolic. It is a moral imperative, a call to reflect on a legacy that still ripples through our...
THE history of Bangladesh鈥檚 independence is deeply rooted in the Language Movement of 1952, a struggle that set the stage for an eventual liberation from the oppressive regime of West Pakistan. This movement was not merely a fight for linguistic recognition; it was the first organised resistance against the systematic political, cultural, and economic subjugation...
THE vandalisation of the historic Dhanmondi residence of Bangladesh鈥檚 founding president, the late Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, on February 5 appears to have been a direct result of the indirect provocation of the fallen prime minister Sheikh Hasina and the reactive political behaviour of a section of the agitating students who led the democratically oriented...
Sweden reeled on Wednesday from the deadliest mass shooting in its history after 10 people plus the suspected gunman were killed in a shooting at an adult education centre in the central city of Orebro...
EVER since prime minister Sheikh Hasina precipitously fell from power on August 5, 2024, the dynamics between India and Bangladesh have been worryingly discordant. But it is not a brand-new phenomenon. Partially, an inheritance from the past, the two-pronged narrative is still 鈥榟andcuffed to history!鈥� My August 8, 1998, weekly Holiday piece on...
THE year 2024 will forever be etched in Bangladesh鈥檚 political history. It marks the fall of an autocratic regime, the victory of the people, and a significant shift in the country鈥檚 political landscape. However, despite this monumental political achievement, the progress in addressing gender-based violence and achieving equality for women remains...
Russian authorities ordered the closure from Thursday of Moscow鈥檚 award-winning Gulag History Museum.
AN UPTICK of an old fault line: the protracted Bangladeshi discourse over history has recently stepped up since a spokesperson of Dr Mohammad Yunus鈥檚 interim regime announced...
HISTORIANS acknowledge that history doesn鈥檛 quite repeat itself. But it has, in Bangladesh!...
THE history of Bangladesh has become a partisan battleground of narratives and counter-narratives, but this paper is too short to go into the details of those questions. The eye of the storm over historical...
