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.
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.
A person’s sexual orientation is an innate characteristic of that person and must not be a basis for discrimination.
From the Strait of Hormuz to the Bay of Bengal, the United States is fighting a war it has never fully declared -- one waged not against Tehran or Caracas, but against the architecture of a Chinese-led economic order.
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.
Iran is delivering a master class in asymmetric warfare with real life military, geographic, and economic consequences.
Already, there are signs of classic crisis behaviour. Panic buying, hoarding, informal resale of fuel at inflated prices, and rising tensions at petrol pumps. These are not the symptoms of a stable system. They are the early tremors of a breakdown in trust.
Divine gratitude can flow into our everyday lives in such ways, humbling our hearts to appreciate our privileges, the people and experiences that shape us, and the community and world we belong to, all the while realizing that much of life is a gift rather than an entitlement.
A dual crisis of legitimacy in the opposition and civil society is creating a “twin vacuum” that weakens democratic accountability in Bangladesh
A month into the conflict, we have yet to see any meaningful adjustment in fuel prices. Even as international crude prices have skyrocketed, the domestic market remains insulated, standing in stark contrast to almost all other Asian nations, including our neighbors, which have already implemented price hikes.
Bangladeshis need to understand who they are and develop the self-confidence necessary to chart their future destiny. Bangladesh is the eighth-largest country in the world by population, it is the 26th-largest economy by GDP-PPP at approximately $1.9 trillion, and one of South Asia's fastest-growing economies -- with GDP per capita projected to reach $10,850 by the end of 2026.
You have to heal those it hurt, reassure those who hurt on its behalf, and do all of this under the watchful eye of a public that has very little forgiveness left in the tank. You are blamed for problems you inherited and applauded cautiously for small, unsexy fixes that don’t photograph well.
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.
If Bangladesh builds an SPR, it must not repeat either failure mode: Not scarcity through neglect, and not expansion without scrutiny. That, finally, is the real argument for a Bangladeshi reserve. Not a monument. Not another expensive ribbon-cutting exercise. A shield.
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.
Even if we develop our state institutions, there is no guarantee that a ‘Legal Autocrat’ or ‘Constitutional Autocrat’ will not appear in future. The stronger the State, the stronger a Constitutional Autocrat is and the more it may exercise power to prey the public. State becomes a Constitutional handle to a Constitutional Dictator or Fascist.
