December 1, 2020
The coal conundrum: Are we really moving away from dirty energy?
After a decade of ruthlessly pursuing the world’s dirtiest fuel, the Ministry of Power, Energy and Mineral Resources (MoPEMR) is contemplating closing down 13 of the 18 previously approved coal-based power projects around the country and apparently switching to “cleaner” alternatives.
November 13, 2020
The bloody view from the resort in the hills
The announcement that a five-star “Marriott Hotel and Amusement Park” is being built in Bandarban no doubt comes as welcome news to Bengali elites and the nouveau riche looking for novel and Instagrammable ways of spending their weekends and disposable incomes in the luscious hills of the CHT.
November 5, 2020
In Search of A Suitable Adaptation
I’ve long come to accept that there’s no such thing as a suitable adaption of a favourite book. Yet, when it was announced that Vikram Seth’s A Suitable Boy (1993), a novel I have loved through the decades, was going to be adapted by the BBC for a miniseries—and directed by Mira Nair, no less—I couldn’t help but feel hopeful about the possibilities. Could this really be… the one?
November 2, 2020
Why are former Tazreen workers still on the streets?
For the last 45 days, at least 40 (former) workers of Tazreen Fashions Limited have been staging a protest on the sidewalks outside the Press Club, unnoticed, for the most part, by the media.
October 19, 2020
Decrees cannot drown debates
October 7, 2020 marked the first death anniversary of second-year Buet student, Fahad Abrar, who was tortured to death by members of Bangladesh Chhatra League (BCL) for posting a criticism of an agreement signed between Bangladesh and India on the use of the Mongla port, water sharing and export of energy sources.
September 6, 2020
From remittance-warriors to criminals
If life were a film with a wholesome ending, traffickers of the 106 Bangladeshis stuck in Vietnam would have been swiftly arrested.
August 13, 2020
Deadly encounters
In a rare instance in the long and not-so-glorious history of extra-judicial killings in Bangladesh, justice, it appears, is on its way to being served for the murder of Major (retd) Rashed Sinha.
July 24, 2020
Ethical business is not a one-way street
It really warms my cold, judgmental heart when I hear grandiloquent statements from Bangladeshi RMG factory owners about the importance of ethical business as they plead with big global brands to “do the right thing” and “stand by poor Bangladeshi workers”.
June 26, 2020
Is foul play the new normal?
You may have already seen the social media campaign ‘#payup’, asking Kardashian sisters Kendall and Kylie Jenner to pay up their suppliers in Bangladesh. You may have also read about British brand, Debenhams, which is asking for a whopping 90 percent discount on products from 40 suppliers in the country. What you may not know is that these are only two of at least 1,931 brands which have either delayed, put on hold, or straight-up cancelled their orders since the onset of Covid-19, as per data received from the BGMEA.
April 8, 2020
Opinion: Corona is only as cruel as capitalism’s weakest link
That capitalism is cruel should come as no surprise to those who understand either the meaning of cruelty or the logic of capitalism.