Bangla is our first language, we should treat it as such

Seventy years after the events of February 21, how far have we really been able to live up to the anti-colonial spirit of our Language Movement? The answer to this question is by no means a simple one.
20 February 2022, 18:00 PM

Our Language Movement: Moments, Momentum, Milieu

Our Bhasha Andolan—the Language Movement—was undoubtedly a major event in our political history.
20 February 2022, 18:00 PM

Surviving re-entry to Malaysian labour market is key

It has been two months since a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between Bangladesh and Malaysia on the employment of Bangladeshi workers was signed, marking the end of a suspension on their entry to the Malaysian labour market which had been in force since 2018.
19 February 2022, 18:00 PM

Our selfish obsession with becoming parents

A nosy parker asks, “Why aren’t you having kids yet? You’ve been married for two years already! Why the delay?
18 February 2022, 18:00 PM

Your freedom ends where mine begins

There is a comprehensive global perception that Canada is a nation where relative peace, justice, stability and the rule of law are institutionalised across public life; protests, riots, violence and divisiveness are associated with their southern neighbours.
18 February 2022, 18:00 PM

If I am not for sale, what am I?

Recently, I was chatting with a young friend. She mentioned that, with all the Covid lockdowns (she is in a country much harder hit than Bangladesh), she has learnt to do business online, selling herself as a yoga and meditation instructor.
17 February 2022, 18:00 PM

Party loyalty in the shifting sand of Indian politics

When RPN Singh quit the Congress and joined the BJP on January 25, 2022, he joined a growing list of politicians switching sides ahead of the coming assembly elections in five Indian states: Uttar Pradesh, Goa, Uttarakhand, Punjab, and Manipur.
16 February 2022, 18:00 PM

Jibanananda Das: Tropes, Tensions, Tendencies

Today—February 17—marks the 123rd birth anniversary of Jibanananda Das (1899-1954), recognised today as one of the greatest Bengali poets of all time.
16 February 2022, 18:00 PM

Young, dumb, and broke

In the Bollywood film 3 Idiots, one of the characters, Chatur aka Silencer, mocks what he presumes to be the protagonist’s profession thus (in loose translation)—“Namaste Masterji. What heights you’ve reached! You’ve become a schoolteacher in the village! A for apple, B for ball!”
15 February 2022, 18:00 PM

What is at the core of the Ukraine crisis?

Many may remember the dramatic call between US President Ronald Reagan and his Soviet Union counterpart Mikhail Gorbachev in 1987.
14 February 2022, 18:00 PM

Let’s not consign our RTI law to cold storage

The title of our column today is inspired by an editorial in Prothom Alo, a popular Bangla national daily in Bangladesh, published on February 5, 2022.
14 February 2022, 18:00 PM

End the pandemic of violence against women

Violence against women and girls increases during periods of crisis. So it should come as no surprise that Covid-19 has added to the risk of increased gender-based violence.
12 February 2022, 18:00 PM

A region connected by waterways

When the Indian cargo vessel MV, named after former Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri, set sail carrying 200 tonnes of food grain on a 2,350 km journey
11 February 2022, 18:00 PM

Are we listening to our adolescents?

To understand what our adolescents dream about the future, researchers at the Economic Relations Division (ERD) under the finance ministry conducted an explorative survey between August and September 2021.
11 February 2022, 18:00 PM

No real social change comes on its own

Every new year brings new hope in our lives. We hope that things will finally change.
11 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 Definitive Story

Retired Indian diplomat Chandrashekhar Dasgupta’s recollection of the events of 1971, centring on the Bangladesh Liberation War as captured in his recently published book, India and the Bangladesh Liberation War:
10 February 2022, 18:00 PM

Human rights are scrambling to catch up to climate change

For my Masters dissertation a few years ago, I decided to focus on the linkages between climate change and human rights, especially as they pertain to renewable energy transitions.
9 February 2022, 18:00 PM

50 years of Bangladesh-Japan ties: A new horizon of ‘heart to heart’ relationship

Today marks the 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Bangladesh and Japan. As the ambassador of Japan to Bangladesh, I am honoured to celebrate this memorable day with the people of Bangladesh.
9 February 2022, 18:00 PM

Schools should remain open—then what?

Schools re-opened on September 12 last year on a limited basis after 542 days of closure.
8 February 2022, 18:00 PM