Press freedom under attack: Global threats and local reforms
Hopefully, the interim government would take sincere initiatives to implement the much-needed reforms in the media sector soon.
3 May 2025, 02:00 AM
We need a human rights agenda for transition to democracy
The past 15 years have seen the most severe narrowing of civic space, heightened surveillance, intimidation, and reprisals that often led to self-censorship. Rather than accountability for these violations, officials responsible were often rewarded for their misconduct. As we move forward with several reform agendas that can be implemented within a short timeframe, it is essential to have a national conversation on what "governance anchored in human rights" should truly look like.
10 October 2024, 12:05 PM
What reforms does the media need in Bangladesh?
The media industry of Bangladesh will have to embark on a long struggle to regain the trust of the people.
9 September 2024, 02:00 AM
How to ensure justice for the atrocities committed in the past
Ensuring justice for these crimes will require bringing all responsible parties to account, from top political leaders to the enforcers on the ground.
17 August 2024, 02:00 AM
Is political violence transforming Awami League?
These latest developments add to the concerns over the increasing tendency towards intolerance and the preference for violent means to suppress any dissent.
17 July 2024, 03:00 AM
The paradox of whitening black money while fighting corruption
Has the government redefined corruption by excluding the concept of black money?
6 July 2024, 06:56 AM
Why this intimidating police statement aimed at the media?
The BPSA's warning to the media is concerning given the overall media environment in the country
23 June 2024, 02:00 AM
An IGP’s eye-watering corruption takes the lid off patronage politics
Many of Benazir Ahmed's public statements since assuming high office aligned more with the ruling party's political stance than with the neutral stance expected of a civil servant.
28 May 2024, 02:00 AM
The forgotten mutiny for India’s independence
One of the most important but undervalued events of India’s independence movement was the naval revolt of 1946, about which Indian historian Sumit Sarker wrote,
24 July 2022, 18:00 PM
Why should MPs have a role in school, college management?
The whole episode raises some serious questions regarding the roles of both the lawmaker and the college principals.
20 July 2022, 15:00 PM
What makes Bangladesh 7th saddest nation in the world?
According to the Global Emotions Report 2022, Bangladesh is the seventh saddest nation in the world. And we became miserable well before the onset of high inflation and cost of living crisis.
8 July 2022, 16:00 PM
How the politicisation of courts and judgements weakens democracy
Two verdicts in two different countries, located thousands of miles apart, by their respective supreme courts last week have stoked a serious debate about the role of judges and politicisation of the judiciary.
28 June 2022, 18:00 PM
Mizanur’s ordeal was unacknowledged detention and torture
Well-known civic rights activist Mizanur Rahman’s narration of his harrowing experience of being picked up by police and tortured under custody, published in this newspaper’s online version on June 15, gives us some disturbing snapshots of the unlawful actions of our law enforcement agencies.
20 June 2022, 18:00 PM
Stripping Odhikar of its rights?
When Bangladesh needs to show that it has been listening to the concerns about respecting human rights and upholding the rule of law, it has done quite the opposite.
12 June 2022, 18:00 PM
Foreign minister’s response to US ambassador: A story for all the wrong reasons
The questions suggested by Foreign Minister AK Abdul Momen for the US ambassador to Bangladesh were a repetition of unverified claims made by some politicians in their public speeches.
6 June 2022, 18:00 PM
Twitterdom with a new king should worry us all
Elon Musk, a self-proclaimed free-speech absolutist and the world’s richest man, is the new king of Twitterdom.
27 April 2022, 18:00 PM
Are the new online laws designed for the 2023 polls?
The recent publication of the drafts of two long-awaited legislations on regulating the usage of internet in Bangladesh have stoked some debate on their likely impact on both the citizens and businesses.
18 April 2022, 18:00 PM
DSA took away Mushtaq
Writer Mushtaq Ahmed paid the ultimate price for his freedom of expression, and it’s a matter of shame for us all that it happened in the year of the Golden Jubilee of Bangladesh’s independence.
25 February 2022, 18:00 PM
Democracy’s digital challenge
At the beginning of the current millennium, the world celebrated the visible empowerment of citizens through digital technology due to emergence of social media platforms and search engines.
14 February 2022, 18:00 PM
When politics is all about partying
The one issue dominating British politics for weeks is nothing other than the partying going on at the heart of the government, at 10 Downing Street, the office-cum-residence of the prime minister.
10 February 2022, 18:00 PM
The CEC’s pre-poll slumber and the question of ballot stuffing
Can anyone remember such degradation of a constitutional body like what our Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) KM Nurul Huda has done?
31 January 2022, 18:00 PM
What can we expect from the Search Committee law?
The sudden approval of a draft Election Commission law by the cabinet certainly gives the government and the ruling party a powerful public relation tool, as they can claim they have done what no other party even attempted in the last 50 years.
21 January 2022, 18:00 PM
Journalists should be worried about DSA exceptionalism
The extraordinary assurance that no journalist will be arrested immediately under the Digital Security Act (DSA) without a summon seems to be an attractive solution to the concerns and fears created by its random abuse to suppress critical voices in the media.
3 January 2022, 18:00 PM
UP elections remind us why we need a political consensus
It seems that some of us are quite intrigued by the results of the Union Parishad (UP) elections that show official nominees of the ruling party, Awami League, having lost in a big way.
30 December 2021, 18:00 PM
Misleading analysis of US sanctions must be avoided
Bangladesh’s elite law enforcement force, the Rapid Action Battalion (Rab), which has been subjected to a sanction by the US, has now been applauded by the same government for its role in tackling terrorism, according to some media reports.
20 December 2021, 18:00 PM
‘Bloodstained’ UP elections and the CEC’s alternative truth
Video footage and reports have been emerging daily on both traditional and social media exposing how violent and intimidating our elections have become.
27 November 2021, 18:00 PM
What the racism scandal of English cricket tells us
When Indian-born Muslim cricketer Nasser Hussain captained the England team, no one could have imagined that after nearly two decades, the game would be facing a storm of this magnitude and compel the wider society to confront one of the most sensitive issues: racism.
22 November 2021, 18:00 PM
What can we learn from London’s radical move to curb air pollution?
London Mayor Sadiq Khan has done something daring to tackle air pollution in his city. First, he experimented with an Ultra-Low Emission Zone (ULEZ), with an area designated as a congestion charging area about 25 years ago.
27 October 2021, 18:00 PM