Zafar Sobhan

Zafar Sobhan

Last seen: 2 hours ago

Member since Apr 25, 2025

The Beautiful Game

The time has come for us to once again turn our attention and divert our resources to a truly global world sport: football.

Counterpoint Generations | EP 7 | Professor Rehman Sobhan | Zafar Sobhan

In Episode 7 of Counterpoint Generations, Zafar Sobhan and Professor Rehman Sobhan discuss Manchester United’s recent win, revisit how their shared love for football began, and reflect on the current state of global and Bangladeshi football.

Saying the Quiet Part Out Loud

What this latest interview has shown is that even 18 months after the uprising that unseated them from power, the party has not changed one iota. The party remains exactly as it was prior to August 5, 2024, save for the fact that it is no longer in power.

February 12 is Not the End

A yes vote is only the beginning, not the end. The real work of implementation of the reform agenda is what matters. Similarly, we should not interpret a no vote to suggest that the voters are against reform or that the reform agenda dies there. 

The J Z Show। Ep 14 । Dr Shamaruh Mirza | Zafar Sobhan। Jon Danilowicz

In this episode, Jon Danilowicz and Zafar Sobhan sit down with Dr Shamaruh Mirza for a wide-ranging and insightful conversation on India–Bangladesh relations, questions of justice and reconciliation, and what lies ahead as the country looks toward the upcoming elections.

The J Z Show। Ep 14 । Dr Shamaruh Mirza | Zafar Sobhan। Jon Danilowicz

In this episode, Jon Danilowicz and Zafar Sobhan sit down with Dr Shamaruh Mirza for a wide-ranging and insightful conversation on India–Bangladesh relations, questions of justice and reconciliation, and what lies ahead as the country looks toward the upcoming elections.

Let’s Bring Down the Temperature

We cannot let the Bangladesh-India relationship and discourse be hijacked by the hard-liners on either side of the border who favour hostility and antagonism over cordiality and cooperation.

Counterpoint Generations | EP 5 | Professor Rehman Sobhan | Zafar Sobhan

In the fifth episode of Counterpoint Generations, Counterpoint Editor Zafar Sobhan and Professor Rehman Sobhan step back from daily headlines to reflect on history — focusing on the great homecomings, returns, and janazas that have shaped Bangladesh’s political and emotional landscape.

The J Z Show। Ep 13 । Zafar Sobhan। Jon Danilowicz

Tarique Rahman's Homecoming and New Political Alignments

The J Z Show। Ep 12 । Zafar Sobhan। Jon Danilowicz

Hadi dead. Daily Star and Prothom Alo Attacked. What Next?

Return to Democracy

For the Interim Government, this election will be how their legacy is viewed by posterity. Whatever they have achieved and whatever mistakes they have made, everything will be subsumed by this election. If they are able to preside over a good election and hand over power without incident to an elected government, then they will be judged a success.

A Portrait in Courage

We are glad that she breathed her last a free woman, surrounded by her loved ones, and that she lived to see the end of the despotism that blighted the last years of her life. 

Counterpoint Generations | Episode 4

A timely conversation on media, culture, and power, as Professor Rehman Sobhan and Zafar Sobhan reflect on recent events shaping Bangladesh’s democratic landscape.

Is This the Bangladesh We Wanted?

As we move forward to build a new Bangladesh, we need to put minority protection and minority rights front and centre, not because of inflammatory accusations from across the border from those who frankly need to do better protecting the rights of their own minorities, but because it is the right thing to do.

Looking Forward, Looking Back

Debate is one thing. Disinformation is quite another. Let us have an open, honest, nuanced conversation about the Liberation War, but let us always be guided by the truth.

We Cannot Let Osman Hadi's Killers Win

Hadi wanted elections. He believed in the electoral process. He believed in democracy. He was running for election in Dhaka-8. He believed in the slow, painstaking process of building a new Bangladesh and knew there could be no short-cuts.