National Road Safety Day / ‘Road deaths cannot be reduced without BRTA reform’
Dr Md Shamsul Hoque, professor of civil engineering at the Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET), talks to Monorom Polok of The Daily Star about the role of systemic failures and corruption behind the alarming rate of traffic fatalities in Bangladesh, and the critical structural reforms required to curb it.
22 October 2025, 03:00 AM
World Mental Health Day / The pain we don’t see
In Bangla, terms related to mental illness are often reduced to one crude word: pagol (a mad person).
10 October 2025, 03:00 AM
International Day of Older Persons / Dhaka is not for old people, but it is their city too
We have built a society where many elderly people are entirely dependent on others to go out.
1 October 2025, 04:00 AM
International Day of the Victims of Enforced Disappearances / When will there be justice for enforced disappearances?
The interim government should have made some headway by now.
30 August 2025, 02:00 AM
'There is no reason not to accept OHCHR assistance'
OHCHR alone cannot prevent atrocities anywhere when there is systematic denial by the concerned state or any authority of its duties, and a failure of the international community to act.
3 August 2025, 03:00 AM
‘Those responsible for custodial torture and death are rarely punished’
Nur Khan Liton, a human rights activist, discusses his experience of dealing with cases of custodial torture and deaths in an exclusive interview with Monorom Polok of The Daily Star.
27 June 2025, 03:00 AM
‘Labour reforms must ensure a dignified life for workers’
Writer-researcher Altaf Parvez discusses the recommendations made by the Labour Reform Commission to improve the state of workers in the country, in a conversation with Monorom Polok of The Daily Star.
1 May 2025, 03:00 AM
An unfinished struggle: Democracy, identity and reform
The interview explores the evolving narrative of democracy in Bangladesh since 1971.
6 April 2025, 02:00 AM
‘Road deaths cannot be reduced without BRTA reform’
Dr Md Shamsul Hoque, professor of civil engineering at the Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET), talks to Monorom Polok of The Daily Star about the role of systemic failures and corruption behind the alarming rate of traffic fatalities in Bangladesh, and the critical structural reforms required to curb it.
22 October 2025, 03:00 AM
The pain we don’t see
In Bangla, terms related to mental illness are often reduced to one crude word: pagol (a mad person).
10 October 2025, 03:00 AM
Dhaka is not for old people, but it is their city too
We have built a society where many elderly people are entirely dependent on others to go out.
1 October 2025, 04:00 AM
When will there be justice for enforced disappearances?
The interim government should have made some headway by now.
30 August 2025, 02:00 AM
'There is no reason not to accept OHCHR assistance'
OHCHR alone cannot prevent atrocities anywhere when there is systematic denial by the concerned state or any authority of its duties, and a failure of the international community to act.
3 August 2025, 03:00 AM
‘Those responsible for custodial torture and death are rarely punished’
Nur Khan Liton, a human rights activist, discusses his experience of dealing with cases of custodial torture and deaths in an exclusive interview with Monorom Polok of The Daily Star.
27 June 2025, 03:00 AM
‘Labour reforms must ensure a dignified life for workers’
Writer-researcher Altaf Parvez discusses the recommendations made by the Labour Reform Commission to improve the state of workers in the country, in a conversation with Monorom Polok of The Daily Star.
1 May 2025, 03:00 AM
An unfinished struggle: Democracy, identity and reform
The interview explores the evolving narrative of democracy in Bangladesh since 1971.
6 April 2025, 02:00 AM
'A truly democratic society must not suppress differing opinions'
Samina Luthfa talks about the interim government's performance 6 months after it took office.
9 February 2025, 02:00 AM
‘The BRT project was flawed from the start’
Dr Md Shamsul Hoque, professor of civil engineering at the Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET), talks to Monorom Polok of The Daily Star about the maiden BRT line in Dhaka that opened last month.
30 January 2025, 02:00 AM
'An honest, patriotic political leadership can transform the nation'
Prof Syed Munir Khasru, who heads the Institute for Policy, Advocacy, and Governance (IPAG), in an exclusive interview with The Daily Star.
4 January 2025, 02:00 AM
When art and politics collide
Dr Samina Luthfa, associate professor at the Department of Sociology in Dhaka University, talks about the recent controversy surrounding Shilpakala Academy and the theatre scene in Bangladesh with Monorom Polok of The Daily Star.
15 November 2024, 07:47 AM
‘Karnaphuli tunnel is a white elephant for Bangladesh’
Prof Md Shamsul Hoque talks about the practicality of undertaking megaprojects like the Karnaphuli tunnel with The Daily Star.
8 November 2024, 02:00 AM
What's causing the unrest among factory workers?
Kalpona Akter, labour rights activist and president of Bangladesh Garment and Industrial Workers Federation, talks to The Daily Star.
3 November 2024, 04:00 AM
‘Corruption is hijacking our development process’
Look at cities like Kolkata and Jakarta, where metros were built at much lower costs and in less time.
29 October 2024, 03:00 AM
Gono Bhaban shouldn’t be turned into a museum
Why should we use this symbol of destruction to remember the movement?
11 September 2024, 05:00 AM
The invisible prisoners of state
The current government must also identify those who have been killed during their disappearances.
30 August 2024, 08:30 AM
The movement of tomorrow
The youth's stance against vandalism and violence after the fall of Hasina shows that this is the movement of tomorrow.
7 August 2024, 09:56 AM
Don’t turn metro rail into a status symbol
Imposing VAT on metro fares and taking the service further away from the poor, it risks becoming more like a status vehicle—which rich commuters already have plenty of.
20 May 2024, 13:00 PM
Sorry parents, but GPA 5 is not the holy grail you think it is
But what about the students who did not score GPA 5? Does this "failure" mean they have been defeated? There is a palpable perception in some quarters that they may have
12 May 2024, 13:03 PM