Posts

A Return to Roots

We need to revive Bengali Islamic architecture. The eight new mosques recently announced would be the perfect place to start.

Gaza and the Shadow of End Times

On the ground, Gaza is a military and political struggle. In the imagination, it is an eschatological war, stretching from the Crusades to 1948 to today.

Gaza, Power, and the Politics of Indifference

If Gaza becomes the example that law is conditional and morality negotiable, then the costs will be felt far beyond its borders. And when history renders its verdict, it will not be kind to those who turned away.

When Propaganda Meets Corpses: Counting the Dead of 1971

Why this obsession with minimization? Because to reduce the deaths is to reduce the crime. To reduce the refugees is to erase the moral claim of independence. To dismiss the rapes is to absolve collaborators.

Student Politics in Engineering Universities: Can BNP Think Differently?

The time has come to reimagine student politics and free the nation's campuses from violence and criminality. Is the BNP up to the challenge?

Whatever Happened to the Bangladeshi Elite?

Are there signs that the old elite consensus that governed Bangladesh for five decades is breaking down, and, if so, what will replace it?

Post-July Bangladesh: Between the Fall of Fascism and the Struggle for Genuine Reform

The AL may be gone (for now) but that doesn't mean that fascism has been eradicated from the body politic

Blood, Bureaucracy, and Transition

An evidence-led appraisal of one year of Bangladesh’s interim government

From the Wiretap to the Torture Cell

How the AL Built Bangladesh’s Surveillance-to-Detention Pipeline -- and the Question We Still Need Answered

Tariff Relief or Strategic Trade-Off?

20% is better than 35, but there is still a lot of work that needs to be done if Bangladesh wishes to remain competitive in the global marketplace

Why Politicians Keep Lying

The question is not whether politicians will lie. They will. The question is whether and why we, the people, will continue to believe them.

No to a “Second Republic” -- Reform, Not Reinvention (and a True National Archive)

We don't need a new constitution, we need targeted reforms to preserve and improve it. And 2024 was not a repudiation of 1971 -- it was a continuation of its ideals.

Betrayal of the Community: How Rushanara Ali and Tulip Siddiq Failed British-Bangladeshis

Once celebrated as trailblazers, the two Labour MPs now stand accused of hypocrisy, moral cowardice, and silence in the face of dictatorship, leaving the British-Bangladeshi community wounded and ashamed

Health Equity Must Be at the Heart of Bangladesh’s Democratic Transition

Health equity is the difference between a child getting antibiotics or dying from an infection. It is the difference between a woman surviving childbirth or bleeding to death. This is a moral test for the kind of nation we want to become.

The Disputed Status of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman in Post-Uprising Bangladesh

This August 15 , the country must seek closure by coming to terms with the five chapters of its founding President’s legacy –- reckoning with them collectively, not selectively

Slouching Towards Democracy

A one-year assessment on the government’s performance would find it has performed adequately, and the country is firmly on the road towards democracy