Posts

The Plantation That Outlived the Empire

Sylhet’s Tea Garden Adivasis and the Unbroken Architecture of Colonial Indenture

Reserved Seats, Real Representation?

Rethinking Women’s Political Empowerment in Bangladesh

The $30 Billion Nobody Had to Ask For

Bangladesh’s workers abroad now send home three and a half times what all the world’s donors disburse with no conditions, no consultants, and no debt to repay. It is time to say plainly which model is working.

The American Experiment at 250

The republic that declared itself in 1776 was, at bottom, an argument that human beings could be trusted, through reflection and iteration, to correct themselves. Two and a half centuries on, having stumbled badly and then caught itself, it has just offered fresh evidence for that argument. The experiment is older now, but it is still running.

The History of Green Politics

What started as a protest became politics. What was once dismissed as extreme is now the subject of international summits. The questions Green activists were asking 50 years ago -- how do we live within the limits of this planet, and who pays when we do not -- are still the most important questions today.

The J-Z Show | Episode 24 | The World Cup: Can Football Fever Alleviate International Tensions?

Jon Danilowicz and Zafar Sobhan sit down to ask a question that goes beyond the pitch: Can a shared love of the beautiful game actually ease international tensions — or does the World Cup merely become another arena for political theatre? As always, The J-Z Show brings together informed analysis, historical perspective, and candid discussion on the issues that matter most to Bangladesh.

Counterpoint with Zafar Sobhan | Episode 06 | Shayan Khan

In this episode 06 of Counterpoint With Zafar Sobhan, host Zafar Sobhan is joined by Shayan Khan, Acting Editor of UNB and Executive Editor of Dhaka Courier. In this episode Zafar Sobhan, a football enthusiast engages in a discussion with Shayan Khan on the FIFA World Cup. From the selection to 32 teams and the tournament's evolution to the rise of emerging football nations, they explore what makes the World Cup the biggest sporting spectacle on earth. The conversation also covers their favorite teams, dark horses, standout players, and expectations for the tournament as...

Peace or Strategic Reset?

The ceasefire has created an opportunity. Whether the parties seize it will depend not only on the negotiators in the room but also on political leaders willing to accept outcomes short of their maximalist positions. Transforming that opportunity into lasting peace remains the region's greatest challenge.

Why Doesn’t Bangladesh Produce More Breakthroughs?

A country becomes innovative not when its officials announce innovation, but when its inventors no longer need to beg them for the right to build.

Breathing Space or Time to Act?

Postponing LDC graduation won't help us unless we use the time to fundamentally turn things around.

Reimagining Dhaka-Chittagong as a Citizen Equity Corridor

Why the $6 billion expressway must be financed by the people who will drive it -- and what the Global South can teach the West about infrastructure.

The Digital Shalish Court

The most obvious solution is the legal system must criminalize online shaming and punish the cyber-harassers instead of forcing women to disable their accounts.

The Trauma of Being Bengali

Today, that familiar polarizing language can be heard on both sides of Sher-e-Bangla’s hated ‘false wall,’ a wall which has since devolved into a barbed wire fence, on which dead and dying Bengali bodies have been hung.

Why are We Talking About What Women Wear?

Women are neither vessels of national honour nor laboratories of cultural experimentation. They are citizens. And the value of a citizen lies not in her clothing, but in her ideas, her voice, her political convictions, and her contributions.

Did Washington Project Power or Cede the Strait?

The US-–Iran memorandum ended a war on American terms. But the fine print on the Strait of Hormuz, like the rise of the mediators who brokered it, tells a more complicated story.

Why Is It Called Morog Polao?

The language of our food carries a social order within it. That is what we name, what we price, what we celebrate, and what we quietly demand of women versus men at the dinner table is not neutral tradition. It is instruction, delivered warm in a serving bowl, generation after generation.