The multiple amendments and expansion of the Anti-Terrorism Act, 2009 created scope for mass arbitrary arrests and detention of suspects, which often led to extrajudicial killings and enforced disappearances.

Europe often touts itself as a “development partner.” Where was Europe as a partner when Trump was hammering the LDCs with tariffs?

Frugality begins at home. Simple actions such as turning off lights and appliances when not in use, choosing energy-efficient devices, and minimising water wastage can reduce household energy consumption and contribute to broader resource conservation.

The real question before parliament now is brutally simple. Does it want an independent judiciary, or merely a friendlier one?

With the parliamentary politics once again becoming vibrant and engaging, a clear fault line is gradually emerging between the ruling party, BNP, and the opposition, Jamaat-e-Islami (JI).

Bangladesh’s garment industry has faced some serious challenges of late. In the first eight months of FY2025-26, the country’s ready-made garment exports fell 3.73 percent year on year to $25.79 billion, against $26.79 billion in the same period of the previous fiscal year.

Geopolitical crises have repeatedly exposed Bangladesh’s excessive dependence on imported fossil fuels, driving up energy prices and depleting foreign exchange reserves.

One of the main reasons for traffic congestion during school hours is that guardians in private cars drop off and pick up students directly in front of school gates. Since our road capacity is limited, the pressure spills onto the main roads.

Communication is now one of the most decisive forces governing the state in Bangladesh. Policymaking, administrative control, and conventional political management remain as necessary as ever, but they are no longer enough on their own. Today, a rumour can spread faster than an official instruction.

Despite remarkable progress in child survival, newborn deaths remain a major challenge in Bangladesh. According to recent estimates, about 60,000 newborns die each year in the country, with nearly three-quarters of these deaths occurring in the first week of life.

Last month, three special days of observation occurred in succession.

I woke up before dawn on Wednesday to a call from my younger sister, Nazia. The ICU doctors had asked that the family come in. A quiet fear settled in my chest.

Last week, while buying vegetables from an open market, I could not help feeling dissatisfied over the hiked price of every item. “It seems you are still in a moon-sighting mode,” I said, to which the seller responded nonchalantly, “What can I do?

Designing better policies in times of crisis is not the challenge, but designing them for real behaviour is.

The ongoing measles outbreak in Bangladesh continues to raise public health concerns.

As in previous years, this Eid holiday has also seen a large number of people killed and injured in road crashes. Even though people are being killed and injured on the roads every day, we rarely see victims and their families receiving compensation.

Like the rest of the world, Bangladesh is currently grappling with the geopolitics-led energy supply disruption, described by the International Energy Agency (IEA) as the biggest ever threat to energy security.

Access to healthcare is a human right and a cornerstone of universal health coverage (UHC).

Bangladesh has long promoted domestic manufacturing as the cornerstone of its development strategy.

The current approach has kept conditions stable for now, but it also risks something closer to Friedrich Nietzsche’s idea of recurrence, where what is unresolved does not disappear.