Every Muslim knows the phrase Ar-Rahman Ar-Rahim -- the most Beneficent, the most Compassionate. Can we reorient our moral compass towards the politics of responsibility and compassion?
Hadi wanted elections. He believed in the electoral process. He believed in democracy. He was running for election in Dhaka-8. He believed in the slow, painstaking process of building a new Bangladesh and knew there could be no short-cuts.
One did not have to agree with everything that Hadi said to admire him and to believe that he would play an important role in building Bangladesh 2.0. The best way to honor his memory is to help realize his dream of a new Bangladesh.
We cannot build the Bangladesh we envision -- democratic, just, climate-resilient -- while accepting manufactured water scarcity as inevitable. The rivers that created Bengal sustain us still -- but only if we fight to reclaim them.
What happened in those few violent hours at Savar was not an isolated event; it was a revelation -- a rupture that exposed the bones of a much larger story, one about the decay of our collective empathy and the silence of power meant to safeguard our people and our institutions.
Our Liberation War was basically about human rights and dignity. It was a call to refuse to be oppressed, to fight on behalf of the right of self-government, and to struggle in support of the values that unite us as a people: freedom, justice and equality. We must take pride in this history on Victory Day, as it represents not only a past victory but also a promise for the future.
On this day, Bangladesh did not yet know what it would become. It only knew what it had endured. The newspapers recorded surrender, denial, diplomacy, return, and rebirth. The people carried something else entirely -- a heavy, wordless knowledge of survival. That knowledge, more than any headline, is what remains.
Responsibility for earthquake and tectonic matters should logically rest with the Geological Survey of Bangladesh. What scientists can do is identify risk zones and recommend safer building practices.
During the Mughal and Maratha eras, the official in charge of grain supplies and rations for royal households or armies was called the Modi. The storeroom where provisions were kept? The Modikhana: Modi plus Khana, the Persian word for house or room.
Bangladesh needs to develop a national security strategy that forms the basis for decisions on the investments that will be needed to properly train and equip civilian law enforcement agencies, who need to be depoliticized and professionalized, as well as the country’s armed forces.
We need laws that protect us from genuine harm without imprisoning our sense of humour, and platforms accountable to local contexts. Most of all, we must remember that the ability to laugh at power -- cleverly and without fear -- is not a Western import. It is a homegrown, centuries-old Bengali tradition.
A trustworthy opinion poll requires a trustworthy method: the right questions, a sample that reflects the country’s diversity, strict data verification, and transparency about what the poll can and cannot reveal. Without these basics, no amount of promotion or visual appeal can turn a weak survey into meaningful data.
Too much of Bangladesh’s politics still focuses on history while its citizens repeatedly indicate that they are more interested in what will happen to the country in the coming years
Without accountability, restraint, and a genuine recommitment to Palestinian sovereignty, the truce will remain a mirage -- and peace a far cry
The activities of the last few days are dissipating the election-centric uncertainty. It is also clear from the behavior and actions of the political parties that they are taking the upcoming election seriously. Each party will make the utmost effort to earn the people's mandate according to its capacity. This is the biggest positive signal.
On one side: growing inequality; on the other: a deep feeling of elite-people divide; and in the middle: optimism that the future can still be changed. When these three things come together, they create the classic soil for populism.
