Dwindling university autonomy in Bangladesh
Our recently published study has found several alarming factors contributing to declining academic freedom in the universities of Bangladesh.
1y ago
Muhammad Shahidullah’s 135th Birth Anniversary: Shahidullah, a linguist and language activist
By the time Muhammad Shahidullah was old enough to begin his secondary education, he already knew five languages. Besides his mother tongue of Bangla, he not only learnt Urdu, Persian and Arabic—perceived to be the languages of Muslims—but he also became proficient in Sanskrit, the primary liturgical language of Hinduism.
3y ago
Social media and fake news: The beginning of the end?
When the Internet came, media outlets were faced with two contrasting choices: provide a web version for people to read content freely or risk descending into irrelevance.
4y ago
From victims to villains: The changing discourse on Rohingyas
Yet another attempt to send Rohingyas back to Myanmar ended up in an embarrassing debacle last week: Not a single Rohingya
4y ago
Tax the rich
September last year, a ranking of countries prepared by Wealth X, a global financial intelligence company, calculating the rise of ultra-rich individuals in their respective populations put Bangladesh on top.
5y ago
Vigilante justice or what?
On January 17, police in Khagan, Savar recovered the bullet-hit body of a man who was later identified as Ripon. Ripon, a line chief at a local garment factory, was the prime accused in a gang-rape case involving a female worker from his factory.
5y ago
Loan default increases because of bad management
The new finance minister, Mustafa Kamal, has vowed to address the longstanding concerns regarding increasing non-performing loans in banks. Khondkar Ibrahim Khaled, a noted banker and former deputy governor of Bangladesh Bank, talks to The Daily Star's Nazmul Ahasan about the issue.
5y ago
Choking social media is not the answer
It's common knowledge that many opposition candidates were unable to campaign for themselves in the recently concluded elections
5y ago
May 12, 2018
Why Bangladesh's inequality is likely to rise
The issues of growing income inequality and unequal distribution of wealth between the rich and the poor have lately gained traction across the west. Oxfam's yearly inequality report serves as the most damning indictment of this rise in disparity. Eighty-two percent of the entire global wealth created last year, the report estimates, went straight into the pockets of the richest one percent of the world's population. The poorest 50 percent, on the other hand, received zero percent of that wealth.
April 26, 2018
The quota movement signals an underlying discontent
The student protests that swept the country weeks ago were not just about the quota system in public jobs. As a whole, they should be interpreted as a major symptom of a much more complex disease: soaring youth unemployment that can have serious implications for the country's future.
April 20, 2018
A law to gag your online freedom
Less than a month after Bangladesh's cabinet approved the 'Digital Security Act 2018' in late January, Human Rights Watch, a top rights group, published a strong response in its website. Pointing out the vagueness of Section 31 of the draft act, which would criminalise posting of information that “disturbs or is about to disturb the law and order situation,” HRW said, “Almost any criticism of the government may lead to dissatisfaction and the possibility of
April 11, 2018
What has changed since the Spectrum disaster?
The Spectrum factory building collapsed on April 11, 2005. I remember, I was returning to Dhaka from Rajshahi. No one was prepared for a disaster of such a devastating magnitude. The army was called in immediately for the rescue operation. In the meantime, almost 73 people were killed, with a few hundred others injured.
April 5, 2018
Combating our fake news problem
The Cambridge Analytica scandal has put the issue of fake news into spotlight again. It has also renewed conversations as to how best prevent fake news peddlers from manipulating democracies.
March 26, 2018
How do we stop cruelty towards children?
When his mother asked him to collect fodder for their cattle, Yahin went to play with his friends, instead. The venue happened to be an embankment. While they were romping around, a part of the newly constructed dam was slightly damaged. Incensed, Odud Miah, a local political leader and the head of a committee in charge of building the dam, took it upon himself to teach them a lesson. He caught Yahin while the rest of the kids managed to flee.
March 17, 2018
No dove in the White House
In yet another “apprentice-style” dismissal, US President Donald Trump fired Secretary of State Rex Tillerson—his 20th dismissal as
March 6, 2018
Rural social fabric shattered by politics
Since I left home to pursue higher studies, I have been visiting my parents, in the village, two to three times a year.
February 21, 2018
Shahidullah, a linguist and language activist
By the time Muhammad Shahidullah was old enough to begin his secondary education, he already knew five languages. Besides his mother tongue of Bangla, he not only learnt Urdu, Persian and Arabic—perceived to be the languages of Muslims—but he also became proficient in Sanskrit, the primary liturgical language of Hinduism.
February 9, 2018
Will EU become chief peace negotiator?
European leaders are not unfamiliar with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's gate-crashing. For example, he invited himself to
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