In Focus

Myanmar coup: How the military has held onto power for 60 years

The military once again hold the reins of power in Myanmar. Citing constitutional provisions that give the military control in national emergencies, army officers detained government leaders in the early hours of February 1 2021, including state counsellor and popular national leader Aung San Suu Kyi.
7 February 2021, 18:00 PM

Deshpriya Jatindra Mohan & Nellie Sengupta

The following story unfolds in a prominent zamindar (feudal landlord) family of the Senguptas, in the then remote and obscure sleepy little village of Barama,
31 January 2021, 18:00 PM

The Angry Young World

This article considers student activism at Dhaka University in the 1960s as a case study for considering student politics at multiple scales: local, regional, and international. In addition to providing a historical narrative of Dhaka’s engagement in the Mass upsurge campaign that led to the end of the Ayub Kahn regime,
24 January 2021, 18:00 PM

What's so special about Bengal?

If you are looking for ancient history, Bengal’s achievements are clearly limited. The Indus Valley Civilization that immensely enriched the sub-continent in the third and second millennia BC hardly reached Bengal. No part of the Vedas and the Upanishads is known to have been composed in Bengal.
17 January 2021, 18:00 PM

History of the Greek community in Dhaka

A small yellow building that looks a little like a Greek temple faces the campus wall near the Teacher-Student Center of Dhaka University.
10 January 2021, 18:00 PM

The Sundarban Plan

Tilman Henckell [Judge and Magistrate of Jessore] at an early period of his magistracy, turned his attention to the Sundarbans, and he was the founder of the system of reclamation which is now converting these great forests into immense rice tracts.
3 January 2021, 18:00 PM

The Enduring Enigma of Columbo Sahib!

It stands proudly as a silent sentinel - forsaken, forlorn, dilapidated - entwined in the vicious vice-grip of invasive vegetation – serpentine vines and clinging creepers - that threaten to bring it down anytime sooner than later.
27 December 2020, 18:00 PM

President of the Poor

He is the “president of the people”, more precisely the “president of the poor people”.
20 December 2020, 18:00 PM

The Brave Doctor

The idea of death is feared by many but it is not in our control – perhaps only to a certain extent. Various life decisions we make play a big part in determining our fate.
13 December 2020, 18:10 PM

Imagining a Dhaka for 2035

No one doubts the magnitude of complexity that shrouds Dhaka, this city of 16 million poised between being the worst liveable and an economic colossus.
13 December 2020, 18:00 PM

Do women feel safe in offices?

Earlier this month, I was a guest on a podcast titled Not Here For, a series by Kotha Bangladesh, that calls out injustices that we have historically faced and continue to face in this country today.
6 December 2020, 18:00 PM

Understanding The Communal Divide

Theories abound. Bizarre rumours run wild. Apart from extremists on both ends of the spectrum, all rational minds with a heart condemn the divide; yet, it refuses to go away. It’s complex -- at times it gets ugly but, most of the time, a simmering tension over numerous petty differences regarding faith, culture and inexplicable prejudices run deep.
29 November 2020, 18:00 PM

Cultural cartooning: A new look at our everyday life

A new cartoon movement, known as cultural cartooning, has been gaining popularity all over the world. Cultural cartooning brings out the humorous side of our everyday life.
22 November 2020, 18:00 PM

Maulana Bhashani and the transition to secular politics in East Bengal

On March 10, 1947, a day of non-cooperation was observed in the colonial province of Assam.
15 November 2020, 18:00 PM

The Unforgettable Suhrawardys of Bengal

The spectacular socio-cultural efflorescence known by the sobriquet of ‘Bengal Renaissance’ was an extraordinary period from mid- 19th to early 20th century in Bengal.
8 November 2020, 18:00 PM

The cries of Modhupur Garh

“Leaf Storm” or La Hojarasca in Spanish, the debut novella by world renowned Colombian author Gabriel García Márquez, was first published in 1955. Largely applauded as the first appearance of Macondo, the imaginary village later made reputed in One Hundred Years of Solitude, Leaf Storm is a litmus test for a number of the themes and characters later to be crystallised in the book that earned the author the Noble Prize in literature.
1 November 2020, 18:00 PM

SHER-E-BANGLA IN SEARCH OF A NATIONAL SOUL

Sher-e-Bangla was an institution rather than an individual. So say his critics as well as his admirers. And rightly so. But it seems very few have really appreciated the deeper significance of the epithet given him by themselves.
25 October 2020, 18:00 PM

The devil rays of Bengal

I was mostly lurking behind the group of marine biologists, young researchers, and local parabiologists scouting the dirt-ridden streets of Chattogram just opposite to the under-construction fisheries ghat.
18 October 2020, 18:00 PM

The early history of Bengali printing

The following account is concerned with Bengali printing before 1800, concentrating on the period after the Battle of Plassey in 1757 when the British East India Company established its control of the province.
11 October 2020, 18:00 PM

Environmental history of Dhaka: An outline

Environment has been key to Dhaka’s birth and rebirth, growth and development as well as its urban predicaments. Recently, Dhaka’s environmental issues have led to public debates drawing a lot of interest.
4 October 2020, 18:00 PM