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.
Do not read these polls as a scoreboard. Read them as a map of the public's fears, confusion, and silent hopes. The party that understands what the polls are not saying -- the doubts of the undecided, the nuances in the responses on reform, expectations on law and order, corruption, employment will be the one that truly wins the mandate of Bangladesh.
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.
“Razakar” is a word that keeps reappearing in Bangladesh’s political history, carrying shifting meanings and renewed political weight over time.
The shooting of Osman Hadi becomes a lens through which Jon Danilowicz and Zafar Sobhan examine political violence, institutional accountability, and the deeper fault lines shaping Bangladesh’s current moment.
On this December 14 we should neither forgive nor forget the atrocities that were committed against the Bangladeshi people, not just on that day in 1971 but throughout the nine months of the Liberation War. Some sins are unforgivable, and December 14, 1971 is one of them.
Prof Yunus had pledged to hold elections before Ramadan in 2026 and looks to have delivered. There is many a slip twixt cup and lip, but we are on course for our free, fair and festive elections on February 12.
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.
A thoughtful examination of leadership, party dynamics, and the unfinished story of parliamentary democracy in Bangladesh, as discussed by Rehman Sobhan and Zafar Sobhan.
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.
