Sushmita S. Preetha

We were “assured” after the attack that the in/action of the law enforcers would be “looked into” and “action taken against anyone found negligent of his duties”. However, till now, no administrative or legal action has been taken against any person

Kudos, young comrades, for making the impossible possible – for making the government rethink its position at a time when our policymakers often stubbornly stick to their guns, no matter how foolhardy their decisions. Kudos to you for making us believe,

It is a hopeful sign that after three years and relentless pressure from activist groups, a Dhaka court has framed charges against 13 people, including the two owners of Tazreen, Delwar Hossain and Mahmuda Akhtar, for the death of at least 112 workers.

Are you a writer, journalist, blogger or Facebook user? Do you find yourself thinking long and hard about the dwindling state of affairs in the country?

David Kaye, the UN Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression, shares his observation on Bangladeshi blogger killings and state responsibility, the distinction between hate speech and offensive speech, and surveillance in the name of national security, in an exclusive interview with Sushmita S Preetha of The Daily Star.

In recent years, the government's insistence that there are no adivasis in Bangladesh has given rise to a lot of outrage amongst

Ask anyone, and they can tell you that you cannot put a price on the Sundarbans. The people who live in and around the Sundarbans,

Purti Munda, the forefather of Mahasweta Devi's adivasi hero, Chotti Munda, had lamented how, wherever he goes, however remote the place, someone appears right away – “Whites-Bangalis-Biharis” – to snatch away his land, and along with it, his peace of mind.

When the wounds of Rajon’s murder from torture are still fresh in the nation’s psyche, social media is, yet again, inundated with horrifying images of two children being beaten mercilessly at an orphanage.

Imagine a life of never fitting in, of constant ridicules and derisions, of being shunned by your own family, of being denied jobs and a chance at a “comfortable” life, of being harassed and assaulted, often sexually, because of who you are.

I never knew Kalpana di – not personally anyway -- the fearless indigenous activist who was snatched away from us by “mysterious” powers-that-be 19 years ago, when she was only 20 years of age.

In a society where violence against women in private and public spaces goes unpunished, is it any wonder that sexual harassment in the cyber domain continues to be firewalled?

During Rana Plaza, the media interviewed dying workers “LIVE” and went into the collapsed building with heavy recording equipment despite warnings that they might hurt survivors.

If police response during the attack was abhorrent, how they reacted to it subsequently was even more disgraceful.

ON March 21, 2014, I received the news that Sumaya Khatun, my friend and comrade, a 16-year-old girl who used to work at Tazreen Garments, passed away after battling a cancerous tumour for over a year.

Happy International Women's Day!” I cry excitedly to the first woman I meet in the morning: our cook, Shefali, as she brings a steaming

Negotiation is the language of democracy, and politics the art of compromise. People are getting fed up and voices are being raised in the country. The initiative we took is a reflection of that voice, of people's expectations. We expect that the political parties will come together and in the best interest of the people, sit down and ultimately solve the problem amicably. There will have to be a negotiation or settlement of the issues. Otherwise we will be in deep trouble as a nation, facing an uncertain future.