Counterpoint

When Hospitals Cannot Save Us

Kawsar Chowdhury

The doctors of Bangladesh are not the disease. They are symptoms of a system that has been starved, stretched, and left to collapse quietly while our politicians fly to London and Singapore for their own check-ups. Someone needs to call this what it is. A national emergency. A moral failure. A crusade waiting for people willing to fight it.

Canal Digging Program and Its Sustainability

Sirajur Rahman Khan

If canals worth thousands of crores of taka are excavated but become filled up or abandoned within a few years, the country will suffer irreparable losses, which would go against the intentions of our policymakers.

The Post-TRIPS Reality

Tashzid Reza

Bangladesh will not experience a shock, but it will face a shift -- from a system dominated by generic competition to one where intellectual property plays a more active role in shaping market access and industrial upgrading.

Iran Has Already Won

M A Hossain

A nation fighting for its survival generates a depth of will that a nation fighting for its credibility simply cannot match.

What Does Farakka Long March Day Mean to Us

Md. Yeasir Arafat

The Farakka Long march of 1976 was ultimately a march for dignity, justice, and survival. Even after five decades, its meaning has not faded. Rather, it has become more urgent than ever before. Because when rivers survive, nations survive too.

Francis Fukuyama, Your Carrier Group Just Turned Around

Zakir Kibria

But the Strait of Hormuz never read your book. It does not care about Hegel. It does not care about the "universalization of liberal democracy." It cares about the presence of a warship within 500 kilometers of its shores -- and it has learned to fire a missile that can make that warship regret its existence.

Can Government Run Without Taxes?

Tashzid Reza

When citizens pay taxes, they demand services, transparency, and governance in return. This creates a feedback loop between the state and its people

A Day’s Trade, A Night’s Debt

Nasrin Sheely

Financial inclusion cannot be measured solely by account ownership. It must be judged by whether a vendor can access 10,000 taka at 2 AM at a known cost, without humiliation or hidden charges, and with a pathway to better finance.

Competitiveness, Consumption, and Currency

Tashzid Reza

Exchange rate changes are often misunderstood, leading to exaggerated expectations. Policymakers need to clearly explain that depreciation does not fully translate into inflation or export gains.

What Our Teen Performers Really Need on the Field

Fahima Hossain Muna

Knowledge is not power in sport; it is fuel

Between Innocence and Immorality

Jaglul Ahmed

Gen Z or Alpha loves beauty and boldness, not beast, humility with harshness when necessary, eloquence, not quiet. The leaders who hide behind humility or show arrogance from the pulpit to conceal the purpose of rule are obsolete.

Why Bangladesh’s Urban Workforce is Quietly Gaining Weight

Fahima Hossain Muna

This economic progress is worth celebrating, but it is arriving with a metabolic cost that the nation’s healthcare system is not equipped to handle yet

How Dhaka’s Gig Workers are Getting Squeezed

Suborna Akther Laboni & Jahid Hossain

West Asia is burning again as the US-Iran conflict takes new turns. The heat of the conflict has reached the queues for fuel in Dhaka’s filling stations, where a new class of working poor is born in real time.

Creatine: Beyond the Gym Supplement

Raisa Mehzabeen

In an era dominated by misinformation and aggressive supplement marketing, creatine stands apart as a rare example of a supplement supported by decades of rigorous scientific investigation.

The Delusion of History for the Children of the West

Jaglul Ahmed

The endurance to hardship, spirit and skills to fight when forced, maturity to restrain, legacy of history to forge their own system of governance rather than blindly copy from the West, are the forte of these old but rich civilizations. They enrich their people not only with their own histories but also with the warring histories of the West, so that they can choose the good from the bad.

Why Bangladesh Needs a Layered Approach to Truth, Justice, and Healing

Md. Zarif Rahman and Durdana Chowdhury

When institutions operate without transparency or accountability, they forfeit their legitimacy and become the very source of the wounds they were meant to heal. For the post-uprising state to heal the nation, it must first heal itself, by dismantling these deeply rooted practices of exception and institutionalized violence.

The Rooppur Meter is Running. The Electricity is Not.

Mahtab Mashuq Tonmoy

After the 2024 uprising, there was a genuine window to order a forensic audit of Rooppur's finances. That window was not used. The interim government moved on. The contracting architecture remained intact.

An Open Letter to the Hon’ble Foreign Minister

Zakir Kibria

The compact’s energy architecture amplifies rather than mitigates geopolitical shock exposure. A rational energy-security doctrine would diversify suppliers, transit routes, and contract structures; this agreement funnels us toward a single, unbuilt source over which we possess zero strategic control.

Rewriting the Narrative? RAB’s Conduct in a Nation on Edge

Mirza R. Ahmad

In July 2024, when the entire country erupted in protest, when over 1,400 lives were lost, and when Dhaka became a city under siege, RAB did not revert to familiar patterns. They did not conduct midnight raids. They did not trigger mass disappearances. Instead, they acted as a containment force. That contrast is not just noteworthy, it is historic.

Three Million or Three Hundred Thousand?

Serajul I. Bhuiyan

Seeking a clearer understanding of history does not diminish the legacy of the Liberation War, but honors it more completely. A nation willing to examine its past with honesty shows confidence in its own story.

The Extremely Sustainable Lifestyle of the Burnt-Out Feminist

Sushmita S Preetha

Though the International Brotherhood of Mediocre Men appears to be doing a competent job of setting the world on literal fire, feminists remain the preferred explanation for why everything is burning.

Shanghai Spirit and Westphalia

Syed Hasibuddin Hussain

When the world's sole superpower declares itself a pirate, it may be time to dust off a 17th-century peace treaty.

A 90-Day Report Card on the Prime Minister

Mir Aftabuddin Ahmed

All things considered, Mr. Rahman receives a “meets expectations” grade. The BNP government, as a team, receives a “needs improvement” grade, but not a failing one.

Why the Iran War Will Be Decided at Sea

Syed Misbah Uddin Ahmad (Retd)

For Bangladesh and other maritime-dependent nations, the lesson is clear. Security can no longer be conceived in predominantly territorial terms. It must be understood as a function of connectivity, resilience, and access -- all of which are fundamentally maritime.

Banking Crisis and Private Power

Jamil Iqbal

This piece talks about how bad loans, political patronage, and cosmetic accounting turned Bangladesh’s banks into a public crisis.

The Miracle and the Squeeze

Jamil Iqbal

This first article in a three-part series argues that Bangladesh’s celebrated growth story was always more fragile than it looked. Now that growth is slowing and investment is yielding less, the hidden costs of that model are becoming harder to ignore.

Capital Flight, Inequality, and Who Pays

Jamil Iqbal

This third article in a three-part series argues how wealth leaves the country, why the gains of growth narrow at the top, and what a fairer settlement would actually require.

Time for Industry and Academia to Read from the Same Playbook

Imran Rahman

There is a real gap between what universities teach, how students learn, and what employers increasingly need.

Why the World Watches but Rarely Acts

H.M. Nazmul Alam

The systems that govern the world are powerful, but they are not immutable. They derive their strength, in part, from acceptance, from the belief that they cannot be altered.

Child Abuse, Religious Power, and the Silence of Institutions

Lubna Ferdowsi

A society in which the “honour of the huzur” matters more than a child’s cry has not yet learned justice. A state in which poor families are afraid to seek justice has not yet learned equal protection.

The J-Z Show| Episode 21

Zafar Sobhan

Jon Danilowicz and Zafar Sobhan discuss the IMF–World Bank Spring Meetings, global and domestic political developments, and the wider implications of conflict—from historical reflections on war to the current tensions surrounding Iran.

The J-Z Show| Episode 20. Ceasefire

Zafar Sobhan

In this episode of “The J-Z Show,” hosts John Danilowicz and Zafar Sobhan examine the escalating tensions between the United States and Iran—and the fragile ceasefire currently at risk.

The J Z Show। Ep 19: Bangladesh's Post-Election Landscape and Regional Cooperation

Zafar Sobhan

Counterpoint Generations | Ep 10

Zafar Sobhan

In Episode 10 of Counterpoint Generations, Zafar Sobhan and Professor Rehman Sobhan examine a range of pressing legal and political developments shaping Bangladesh today.

Counterpoint Generations | Ep 9

Zafar Sobhan

Episode 9 of Counterpoint Generations reflects on the immediate post-election landscape, examining voter participation, the formation of the new cabinet, and the institutional challenges facing the incoming government as parliament prepares to begin its term.

Counterpoint Generations | Ep 8

Zafar Sobhan

In Episode 8 of Counterpoint Generations, the discussion explores Bangladesh’s electoral journey from the 1970 election to the present, examining how voting behaviour, political participation, and institutions have evolved over time. The episode also addresses contemporary questions around minority voting patterns, and why opinion polls often fail to predict real outcomes. A reflective conversation on elections, uncertainty, and democratic change.