The legal proceedings unfolding after Ramisa Akhter’s rape, beheading, and murder should be anchored in a fundamental jurisprudential principle and not be designed to appease public emotion: Even in a high-profile case where guilt appears certain, due process is not a concession to the accused, but a guardrail protecting the integrity of the criminal justice system.
Ultimately, the challenge is not to choose between being Bengali and being Muslim. The real challenge is to recognize that both identities can co-exist within a broader vision of a democratic, pluralistic, and self-confident society.
In one simple way, Tarique Rahman stands to be more successful than either of his parents. Neither of them could successfully, peacefully, finish their term and hand over power to the next government. Ziaur Rahman was gunned down by rogue officers. Khaleda Zia faced an implacable foe who made good on her promise of not allowing the former prime minister a moment of peace.
AI is moving faster than any of them. The question is not whether algorithms belong anywhere near the battlefield. The question is who decides where the line is -- and whether anyone is really drawing it at all.
The most important reforms, including tax modernization, banking-sector restructuring, and stronger central bank independence, remain incomplete. The coming budget will therefore be more than a financial document. It will be the first serious indication of whether the government intends to match cautious rhetoric with sustained reform.
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.
There is a real gap between what universities teach, how students learn, and what employers increasingly need.
When the world's sole superpower declares itself a pirate, it may be time to dust off a 17th-century peace treaty.
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.
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.
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.
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.
In 150 seats, more than half of West Bengal’s 294, total deletions were greater than victory margins, and BJP won 99. In 2021, it had won just 19 of these.
A double-engine BJP government could no longer blame West Bengal’s opposition for delays. If New Delhi and Kolkata are aligned, Bangladesh will expect results on both the Ganges and Teesta. The Teesta dispute, long blocked by Mamata Banerjee, is especially symbolic. With the Trinamool Congress out of power, Dhaka would expect movement.
West Bengal's voters may not have articulated this distinction in theoretical terms. But they felt its weight. The images from Dhaka showed them what the far end of one trajectory looks like.
The path ahead is neither simple nor short. Decades of accumulated practices cannot be undone overnight. Yet the absence of immediate transformation should not become a justification for inaction.
