Politics

The Bell Tolls for Bangladesh

As the global aid system shrinks itself by design, Bangladesh is being asked to do more, with less, twice over -- once for a million Rohingya it did not create, and once for a climate crisis it did not cause.

Beyond the Islamic NATO Hype

So the question becomes: If Bangladesh joins the Mecca Pact, which of its immediate security problems will be solved? My answer: Not very many.

Post-2024 Bangladesh and the Closing of the Gates

An uprising can reclaim space without reclaiming sovereignty. It can capture a symbol without capturing the mechanism. It can change the occupants without changing the architecture of access.

Why the President is Right Wing Enemy Number One

Not only did Mr. Alamgir represent a big obstacle for the right-wing network in their pursuit of power and rent but he was also a prominent face of the liberal democratic elite. He is also an obstacle in the spreading of right-wing influences within the BNP.

Bangladesh Cannot Afford to Dismiss the Warning Before Reading It

When the minister responsible for internal security dismisses a terrorism warning before reading the report, the greater concern is no longer only the warning itself, it is the state’s capacity to respond to one.

The Sheikh Mujib Paradox

To be exact about what happened and what didn't: Bangladesh was not reborn in August 2024. A country is born once. What happened in 2024 was not a second birth but a reckoning.

Why Bangladesh Should Bring SAARC Back From the Dead

The moment may have arrived for Dhaka to turn India’s need for regional legitimacy into an opportunity to reset the relationship on a more balanced and multi-lateral footing.

The Survey Bangladesh's Media Cannot Afford to Ignore

When a rigorous nationwide poll challenges the political narratives favored by commentators and newsrooms, the proper response is scrutiny, not silence.

Should India Apologize for Caste Injustice, Like Nepal Did?

A formal apology may not lead to concrete changes. Instead, pursuing reparations could help reimagine the project of social justice in India.

India’s Cockroach Party Protests Have a Powerful Precedent -- and It Isn’t the Arab Spring

A more instructive comparison is India’s own protest wave of the mid-1970s -- and the political reckoning it produced for former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi.

What is the Greatest Myth About Kashmir?

India says Kashmir is an integral part of its territory. Pakistan says it is an unfinished international dispute. Global powers treat it as a question of regional security. But Kashmiris themselves still do not possess an equal role in determining their political future.

Diplomacy Alone is not Sufficient

Deep political involvement is necessary to set policies, which bureaucracies can then execute, not vice versa, the whole nation, regardless of political leanings, prefers its leader to be bold yet pragmatic

How the BBC’s Red Chair Erases a War Crime

The decolonization of our newsfeeds is not an abstract intellectual exercise; it is a matter of life and death. When a mother in Tehran, a father in Gaza, or a child in the Congo is bombed into oblivion, we owe it to them to bypass the filters of London and New York.

Sheikh Hasina’s Last Dance?

Hasina has nudged New Delhi to define its position on her extradition and forced the BNP to confront, sooner than it may wish, whether it truly wants her back and, if so, on what terms.

Can We be an Alternative to the Strait of Malacca?

There is the India-shaped hole in the map. By excluding New Delhi, Beijing has made the corridor more diplomatically tractable, but it has also converted an economic connectivity project into a more explicit piece of the China-India strategic contest in the Bay of Bengal.

Whose History Gets to Stay on the Wall?

Historians genuinely disagree about how much of the Bengal famine's death toll is attributable to policy versus war-driven scarcity that no government could have fully solved, just as historians and communities genuinely disagree about how the Nakba should be contextualized alongside the displacement of Jews from Arab lands.