Why does a six-day holiday feel too good to be true?
This is apparently the longest holiday that journalists have ever gotten in the history of Bangladesh’s newspaper industry.
1m ago
Who will restrain prices in the month of restraint?
If the government really wants to control or bring down prices during Ramadan and afterwards, it must be willing to go after its 'own people.'
2m ago
Who will restrain prices in the month of restraint?
A government’s job is not to preach about people’s food choices, but to keep food prices stable and reasonably down. When it starts to preach, more often than not it is trying to deflect scrutiny of what it cannot achieve through actions.
2m ago
‘Will you be my Valentine?’ and other expensive offers
In the end, love is a personal matter and it should remain so, regardless of how it comes out on February 14 and in the days that follow.
3m ago
‘There’s a huge difference between DSA and CSA’
Mohammad Ali Arafat, the newly appointed state minister for information and broadcasting, in an exclusive interview with The Daily Star.
3m ago
Word of the Election Year: Dummy
Politicians provided a steady supply of obnoxious, potentially title-winning examples
4m ago
Can BNP survive the pre-election meltdown?
BNP's retreat to the back foot amid mass arrests and convictions was as remarkable as it was rapid.
4m ago
Voters without choice are just glorified dummies
You’ve already met the dummy candidates, aka independents. Now, meet dummy voters.
4m ago
March 25, 2022
Ferry disasters: Let’s not sugarcoat institutional murders
It’s like a scene from a Stephen King movie: a small passenger vessel being “devoured” by a cargo ship about 20 times its size.
March 15, 2022
No, we were already pathetic before Sunny Leone came
If you think the social media tendency to obsess over trivial matters is problematic, be sure to highlight what’s causing it.
March 11, 2022
If my buying capacity triples and I don’t know it, does it still count?
Apparently, it does. According to the state-run Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS). And according to Information Minister Dr Hasan Mahmud.
March 4, 2022
A citizen’s manifesto for Election Commission
In his first media briefing on February 28, 2022, the newly sworn-in Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Kazi Habibul Awal ticked almost all the right boxes.
February 15, 2022
The CEC Is Gone, Long Live the CEC!
Let me begin with the story of a thought experiment. I did this experiment with a concept known as perspective-taking.
February 6, 2022
How to read the Sinha murder verdict
For the government, the timing of the Sinha murder verdict on January 31 couldn’t have been worse, with increasing global scrutiny following a US sanction on RAB over allegations of human rights violations, including extrajudicial killings.
June 25, 2021
‘A polarised nation is a paralysed one, and we’re dangerously headed in that direction’
A lot has changed since the start of the pandemic. For many of us, it has come to instantiate the kind of epoch-making events that upend not just life but also perspectives, leaving a profound mark on the civilisation. As a writer and thinker, what has it altered or reinforced about your view of our society?
June 24, 2021
‘The state has always deemed universities hostile to its interests’
In your long illustrious career, you’ve written extensively on many issues, but I find your enduring interest in poverty, rights and justice fascinating. Has there been any personal motivation for pursuing what has been your lifelong crusade against the forces feeding off people’s sufferings?
May 28, 2021
The story of the middle class you’re never told
What is the picture that flashes through your mind when someone talks of social classes? A reader of The Guardian newspaper once made an interesting albeit highly generalised observation.
March 24, 2021
When faith is a weapon, don’t be surprised by who wields it
A dramatic turn of events since the March 17 attack on Hindu villagers in Sunamganj’s Shalla Upazila has been reshaping the narrative on the culpability of potential actors and, by extension, the politics of communal violence in Bangladesh.
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