Counterpoint

Beyond Renewal: Rethinking the Post 2026 Ganges Water Governance Framework

Julian Rafah and Taposhi Rabeya

It is now part of the international customary law that no states are allowed to use the international watercourses even in their own territories, in such a way that would cause significant harm to other basin states or to their environment.

When Measles Kills Again

Khalilur Rahman

Parents must trust that vaccines are available, safe, and reliably delivered and that the health system stands with them. This trust cannot be built through campaigns alone. It requires sustained community engagement, local leadership, and transparent communication.

Will Dr. Zahid go after Facebook and YouTube?

Omar Shehab

He can keep the portfolio as a badge of party confidence. Or he can turn it into something rarer in our politics: A record. And if he wants that record to mean anything, he should begin by demanding answers from Facebook and YouTube.

It’s Time to End This War

Tamim Choudhury

The US lost any foundation of protecting Iranian civilians from their government the day an American missile struck an elementary school, killing 175 individuals, most of whom were children.

The Parliament and the New Democratic Journey

Jaglul Ahmed

The hopes and dreams of the people in society like ours die in the Westminster system of parliamentary governance, which prefers to suppress the opposition under legal cover; the space for morality wanes completely.

How Iran Won the War

Sohel Nadeem Rahman

The strategic balance of the world has changed because from this point onwards. Future crises will be shaped by deterrence from multiple directions. The lesson from Iran’s victory is nothing short of a paradigm shift

Bangladesh Cannot Reach $1 Trillion by Rewarding Passivity

Waseem Alim

A trillion-dollar economy requires a financial system that can recognize risk, tolerate risk, and allocate capital with intelligence.

The Solar Panel Solution

Abed Chaudhury and Tahmid Anam Chowdhury

The integration of solar panels into agricultural land offers a practical pathway toward achieving energy independence, environmental sustainability, and resilient food systems in Bangladesh.

Understanding Bangladesh’s Weak FDI Inflows: A Critical Analysis

A Gafur

Policy predictability must become a cornerstone of economic management. Investors must be assured that agreements will be honoured and that regulatory frameworks will not shift unpredictably. At the same time, bureaucratic processes must be simplified and digitized to reduce delays and discretion.

The Quiet Crisis We Keep Ignoring

Shazia Omar

Universities need to fund counselling services as a genuine commitment, not a box-ticking exercise. Policymakers need to allocate budget to mental health as a first-order public health priority. The private sector needs to stop treating employee wellness as a branding exercise and start treating it as a structural responsibility.

The Wrath of the Religious Right

Riaz Osmani

It is very true that the religious right in Bangladesh have found a new voice that had been brutally suppressed by Sheikh Hasina all these years, and that the group has now taken the opportunity to abuse this new-found freedom.

Armed in History, Unarmed in Memory

Lubna Ferdowsi

Women were not mere supporters; they were shapers of conditions, bearers of risk, and, in many cases, decisive actors. The war cannot be imagined without them, but its written history has often proceeded as though it could.

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.

How More Bangladeshi Students can get to the US

Shahreer Zahan

The goal is to have a unified and cohesive story, an antithesis to the common phenomenon of students accumulating certificates like trophies, so that when they finally face their goal, the student does not essentially become a detriment to the system.

What the Interim Government Gave Bangladesh

Farhana Sultana

What Dr. Yunus and his team of advisers stepped into was not a functioning state awaiting a caretaker, it was institutional wreckage requiring reconstruction.  What followed was a period of institution-building that, whatever its imperfections, deserves recognition.

The Time Is Now Ripe For Reform

Riaz Osmani

I am hoping against hope that the issue of LGBT rights in Bangladesh can be viewed by most people in the country through the lenses of anti-discrimination and not through that of any special rights, and certainly not through any notions of promotion. There is nothing to promote here.

10 Questions for Bobby Hajjaj

Omar Shehab

The education system of Bangladesh is not merely a ministry. It is one of the largest social systems in the world. Running such a system is not simply a policy challenge. It is an administrative challenge of almost unimaginable scale.

The Myth of Rohingya Aid Dependency

Shafiur Rahman

The Rohingya are not “fully dependent” on anyone. They are dependent only to the extent that they have been made dependent -- by design, by policy, and by a system that manages dependency rather than ending it.

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.

A User's Guide to the Un-Governed: The Bangladesh Lexicon

Zakir Kibria

In 840, the mayor always wins. The machine keeps humming. The tenders keep flowing. But the film exists. Someone made it. Someone watched it. Someone wrote about it. And that, perhaps, is where the next story begins.

The Ceasefire That Solves Nothing

H.M. Nazmul Alam

For civilians, of course, the distinction between pause and resolution may seem academic. The absence of immediate violence is a tangible relief. But from a structural perspective, the conditions that produced the war remain unchanged.

The Final Nail in the Coffin

Mir Aftabuddin Ahmed

Former American Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld’s phrase “unknown unknowns” best captures the near impossibility of predicting what comes next. That said, the ongoing Iran-United States ceasefire, offers a brief window of opportunity to take stock: A highly precarious, at best partial, cooling-off period in a region that remains very much in turmoil.

Bad News and Good About the LNG Crisis

Taukir Aziz

The war shut down every long-term supplier in a week. But the permanent damage may not be Bangladesh’s problem.

The Shingara as a Geopolitical Testimony

Zakir Kibria

On gravity, and those who bear its weight.

From Raids to Reform: Why Bangla QR is the Real Solution to Market Opacity

Tashzid Reza

The transition from cash to digital is not merely a technological shift; it is an institutional reform. It requires aligning incentives, building trust, and modernizing infrastructure. But the alternative -- continuing cycles of raids, fines, allegations of harassment, and persistent opacity -- offers little hope for sustainable market discipline.

The Case for Mangal Shobhajatra

Lubna Ferdowsi

If belief is so fragile that papier-mâché masks and symbolic animals can threaten it, the problem lies not with the procession, but with the insecurity of that belief.

The Broad Banner of the LGBTQIA+ Community

Riaz Osmani

A person’s sexual orientation is an innate characteristic of that person and must not be a basis for discrimination.

Navigating Homophobia in Bangladesh 2.0

Riaz Osmani

Left out of consciousness was a group of people who possibly constitute up to 5-10% of the country’s population. This group is none other than the LGBTQIA+ people who have always been part of the society, but lived clandestine lives of lies until only a decade or so ago.

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

The J Z Show। Ep 18 । Zafar Sobhan। Jon Danilowicz

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.