Decanonising Tagore: The recursion of recentered greatness
5 hour(s) ago
In Focus
Tagore’s literary authority endures because even attempts to challenge his canonical status ultimately reinforce his centrality instead.
What Sufism can teach us about the modern world
6 hour(s) ago
Islam, and Sufism in particular, often regards the diversity of peoples, cultures, and religions as an expression of divine wisdom rather than a deviation from it.
Tajuddin Ahmad: A life for Bangladesh
23 July 2026, 13:40 PM
On Tajuddin Ahmad's 101st birth anniversary, revisiting his life, leadership, and enduring legacy.
The journey of Qawwali across South Asia: Music, mysticism, and cultural exchange
23 July 2026, 00:01 AM
The highly melodic nature of qawwali enables listeners to memorise and sing it with ease.
Thinking with Partha Chatterjee
23 July 2026, 00:13 AM
A tribute to Partha Chatterjee, whose groundbreaking scholarship transformed debates on nationalism, subaltern politics, history and democracy worldwide.
Interactive / The haor crisis explained
16 May 2026, 22:36 PM
The Haor Crisis
The crisis in the Haor region of north-eastern Bangladesh is explained in an interactive, Slow Reads Special.
Interactive: Bangladesh Labour History · 1881 - 2026 / Fight for Justice
30 April 2026, 20:55 PM
In Focus
This timeline traces key moments, documenting adversity and progress, and offering insight into the quest for justice.
Justice at work for all
30 April 2026, 20:02 PM
Slow Reads Special
The history of labour in Bangladesh is a story of struggle and resilience, as workers—from colonial plantations to modern garment factories—have shaped the nation’s economic and political trajectory.
The Price of Labour
23 April 2026, 18:32 PM
Slow Reads Special
Between 2005 and 2026, a series of industrial disasters have exposed persistent failures in workplace safety, regulatory oversight, and accountability.
Why secularism is losing ground in South Asia
22 July 2026, 00:02 AM
In Focus
The decolonial vocabulary of postcolonial theory inadvertently empowers Hindu nationalism by legitimising reactionary, religious cultural traditionalism.
Interview / Modern Islam has always been a 'secular' entity
20 July 2026, 00:01 AM
In Focus
Iran provides an interesting example of the fate of Islamism and its ideological state
How the banned film Satluj reopened the darkest wound in Punjab's history
19 July 2026, 14:56 PM
In Focus
What Satluj has achieved is not a guaranteed result in 2027 but something arguably more consequential for now.
Why Bangladesh innovates but rarely builds global companies
23 July 2026, 00:01 AM
Big Picture
Bangladesh startups struggle because a severe commercialisation gap prevents local innovation from achieving global scale and industrialisation.
Beyond groundwater: Rethinking Barind's water crisis
21 July 2026, 00:01 AM
Big Picture
The water crisis in Barind demands integrated governance linking surface and groundwater to protect vulnerable agricultural livelihoods.
The gods that we build: AI and the future of moral authority
22 July 2026, 00:30 AM
Big Picture
Tracing humanity's evolving ideas of divinity, this essay argues AI reflects our values, demanding deliberate moral stewardship and governance.
Remembering Mahbub ul Haq: A pioneer of human development ideas
21 July 2026, 00:02 AM
Big Picture
With regard to the notion of human development, Mahbub used to stress three fundamental points.
After the PhD: The loneliness nobody talks about
22 July 2026, 16:09 PM
Wisdom
Reality hits hard when you finally defend your viva voce successfully and hear the loud 'Congratulations, Dr.'
The Palestine lesson from Spain's World Cup victory
21 July 2026, 16:36 PM
Wisdom
Spain's World Cup triumph rekindles debate over football's enduring entanglement with geopolitics, Palestine, solidarity, and global power politics.
The memories hidden inside my grandmother's tureen
14 July 2026, 15:43 PM
Wisdom
To think that this tureen was acquired long before the ‘71 war, survived the looting, and made its way into my hands decades later feels extraordinary.
What Bangladesh lost with the Baibari Ghar
5 July 2026, 16:36 PM
Wisdom
The Baibari Ghar was one of the few genuinely democratic spaces the village had.
The dreams of girls in a Bangladesh river char
18 July 2026, 17:41 PM
Unheard Voices
The younger a girl is when she gets married, the lower the dowry. That is why parents arrange child marriages.
Can Bangladesh bring back the Chakaria Sundarbans?
18 July 2026, 00:00 AM
Unheard Voices
A vast, barren landscape stretches to the horizon—devoid of trees and even sufficient grass.
Who protects women in Bangladesh's gig economy?
14 July 2026, 00:05 AM
Unheard Voices
As Bangladesh's gig economy expands, women workers remain vulnerable to exploitation, insecurity, and persistent gaps in legal protection.
Bangladesh’s climate-displaced / From lost homes to life in Dhaka’s slums
11 July 2026, 00:00 AM
Unheard Voices
“We have no place to live in our homeland. The island where I was born and raised has abandoned us.
Buried by development: The human cost of river dredging in Dumuria
11 July 2026, 00:00 AM
Unheard Voices
In the heart of Baratia village in Dumuria, a young boy named Dipu lives hemmed in by towering mounds of wet, suffocating riverbed clay.
Char contracts: Surviving river erosion without the state
8 July 2026, 00:01 AM
Unheard Voices
For the people of the chars, a "contract" is not merely a legal document, it means assuming responsibility for one's own fate.
Bangladesh needs a new rulebook for the evolving Rohingya crisis
10 July 2026, 09:00 AM
Editorial
What is the point of negotiating repatriation with Myanmar’s central government when Rakhine State, the territory those refugees would return to, is no longer under that government’s control?
What Bangladesh should understand about the Arakan Army’s Way of Rakhita doctrine
20 May 2026, 10:07 AM
Geopolitical Insights
Analysing the Arakan Army’s Way of Rakhita reveals how Arakanese nationalism shapes Myanmar politics and the Rohingya crisis.
Nearly 900 Rohingya refugees dead, missing in shipwrecks in 2025: UN
17 April 2026, 16:44 PM
World
Rohingyas undertake perilous sea journeys every year in search of better living conditions
Why the Rohingya crisis needs a new political imagination
15 July 2026, 15:03 PM
Geopolitical Insights
As the Rohingya crisis enters its tenth year, Bangladesh must move beyond temporary solutions towards a realistic political strategy.
Prelude to an order for genocide
18 March 2026, 10:00 AM
Slow Reads Classics
AS President Yahya flew out of Dacca on the night of March 25 he took with him the last hopes of a united Pakistan. For the final two days he had been holed up in the Dacca cantonment with the junta of generals who rule Pakistan, putting the finishing touches to Operation Genocide.
Bangabandhu and the world
17 March 2026, 19:28 PM
Slow Reads Classics
As a professional diplomat, I saw Bangabandhu as a symbol of Bangladesh's freedom and independence.
In Focus / The untold history of why Khaleda Zia entered politics
30 December 2025, 11:53 AM
In Focus
Why did Khaleda Zia, a typical housewife who had become widow at a critical age in terms of Bangladesh's culture, join politics?