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
Does supporting election justify exclusion of Rohingyas?
The European Union, barely three weeks before the general election in Myanmar, held a bilateral dialogue on human rights with the regime seeking re-election.
19 October 2020, 18:00 PM
End privacy breaches now
In an era when civil and political rights have been shrinking gradually, we have witnessed a welcome intervention by the Supreme Court.
6 October 2020, 18:00 PM
Is Great Britain becoming a great breacher of international law?
It is probably the first time that the House of Commons recorded a statement by a cabinet member that a legislation brought by the government of Great Britain will breach international law.
19 September 2020, 18:00 PM
A British fiasco derived from algorithm
It was a British fiasco, but Prime Minister Boris Johnson termed it a “mutant algorithm”. The fiasco is about the exam results of both GCSE and A-level involving millions of pupils.
9 September 2020, 18:00 PM
Justice for Sinha can initiate justice for others too
“The Police does not shoulder the responsibility of any misdeed committed by an individual”, claims the Bangladesh Police Service Association (BPSA), a representative body of the members of the police cadre in the country.
17 August 2020, 18:00 PM
UK’s long-awaited ‘smart’ action against human rights abusers
The United Kingdom has finally adopted the long-awaited Global Human Rights Sanctions Regime aimed at tackling human rights abusers around the world.
11 July 2020, 18:00 PM
DfID’s demise redefines aid
The United Kingdom has once again returned to the old conservative principle that development aid must be tied to political and foreign policy objectives of the donor government, instead of targets set by various global organisations through consensus.
23 June 2020, 18:00 PM
Why COVID-19 is not a leveller
When COVID-19 reached some of the most protected and powerful people of the world like the resident of Number 10, Downing Street and the best known royal Prince Charles or forced Prime Minister Trudeau to self-isolate, many people described this virus as a great leveller.
25 April 2020, 18:00 PM
Concern for Kajol during the pandemic
Does anyone know what had happened to Utpal Das? If you cannot remember who Utpal is, no one would blame you.
2 April 2020, 18:00 PM
Crossfire deaths in Teknaf
The deaths of seven suspected Rohingya robbers in a single incident of so-called crossfire are not normal, even in an environment where such extrajudicial killings have become the new normal.
6 March 2020, 18:00 PM
Jihadists of Bangladeshi descent
The verdict rejecting the appeal of the so-called ISIS bride, Shamima Begum, has stoked an important debate in the United Kingdom, raising serious concerns and anxiety among migrant families and rights activists.
14 February 2020, 18:00 PM
Dhaka’s crucial role in enforcing ICJ ruling
On January 23, when the President of the International Court of Justice (ICJ), Abdulqawi Ahmed Yusuf, at the onset of his deliberations pronounced that “the Court’s references in this Order to the Rohingya should be understood as references to the group that self-identifies as the Rohingya group,” some of us in the press room were elated.
30 January 2020, 18:00 PM
Distrust of Police: Neither good for public nor for police
Going by social media trends, the arrest of the alleged rapist of the Dhaka University student has failed to convince a significant number of people that he is indeed the real offender.
14 January 2020, 18:00 PM
Why is most of Asia looking away from Myanmar?
The latest resolution passed by the United Nations General Assembly condemning rights abuses against Rohingya Muslims and other minority groups in Myanmar was the third such resolution on the subject.
4 January 2020, 18:00 PM
Has Bangladesh provided an excuse for Suu Kyi’s defence?
It was another reprehensible act of genocide denial. While defending the indefensible at the world court, the International Court of Justice
22 December 2019, 18:00 PM
Certainty over Brexit, yet uncertainty remains in the Kingdom
One would not expect, least of all in western democracies, to see people taking to the streets immediately after a new prime minister takes office with a landslide victory.
15 December 2019, 18:00 PM
Will pensions be hit by Brexit?
House prices lower, unemployment higher, real incomes down, a year long recession and now, poorer pensioners.
28 May 2016, 18:00 PM
The economics of steel? Pretty bad
In markets, a "buffalo jump" is the moment the price of a commodity rises suddenly before slumping back to its more normal steady state - which for products such as steel has been down, down, down.
30 March 2016, 18:00 PM