SUCH sky-high expectations were impossible to meet, even by a hugely popular government led by an internationally respected Nobel Laureate. The student-led people鈥檚 uprising had removed a murderous tyrant who had left behind a nation in shambles. The judiciary, the police, the bureaucracy, the military and even academia had all been completely politicised...
FEBRUARY 21, 2025 marks the first observance of the historic language movement since the July 2024 mass uprising in Bangladesh. The groundbreaking political change brought about by last year鈥檚 student-led movement is likely to provide new or more nuanced ways of reflecting on the language struggle of the Pakistan period that, among other things, fundamentally...
IN MY small town, Bheramara, Ekushey February was a ritual. Barefoot we roamed, demanding the same of every passerby 鈥� a shedding of shoes, a mark of respect. Bangla, bhasha shaheed 鈥� these weren鈥檛 just words, they were close to the heart, a pulse. And how could they not be? Bangladesh, a nation birthed from language, its very being woven into the...
IN THE quiet spaces between history and memory, where the weight of time presses heavily, there are forces unseen but deeply felt. Military might, cold and calculating, intertwines with the raw, untainted zeal of youth, pulsing with the hope of a future unshackled. From the dust and blood of 1971 to the turbulent echoes of 2024, the struggle for sovereignty...
BANGLADESH鈥橲 2024 national Victory Day (16 December) is significantly different from all such days in its past. It is an outstanding moment of national achievement and celebration; it is a critical point for political learning and truth-telling; finally, it is an occasion for nurturing wisdom, unity and courage in the face of what is happening across...
AN IMPORTANT factor in the liberation war of 1971 was the sharp economic disparity between the then West Pakistan and East Pakistan. The proclamation of the liberation war, therefore, spoke about the desire to establish equality, human dignity and social justice. The country gained independence through the liberation war, but even after 53 years of...
THIS piece is not about the crisis or the chaos that the country is now facing after successfully toppling the autocratic regime of Sheikh Hasina. Rather, it is about the crisis of confidence and social capital or trust 鈥� interlinked, nonetheless...
WHAT started as emancipatory self-expression was soon subjected to the dominant aesthetic regime. What started as 鈥榗hika mara,鈥� a signifier of direct state repression, was soon turned into a sanctioned practice. But graffiti remains graffiti by virtue of its unsanctioned nature 鈥� the defiance and the subversive potential it...
EARLY on July 15, I woke up in Washington, DC to Facebook posts from Dhaka friends about Bangladesh Chhhatra League members ruthlessly attacking and beating up students at Dhaka University who were peacefully protesting to reform an outdated and regressive job quota system which shut them out of employment...
THE saying 鈥榓 bad apple spoils the whole barrel鈥� perhaps applies to any group of people. This means that, in certain circumstances, it takes only one or a few elements to ruin the reputation of an entire community...
ON AUGUST 5, the world witnessed a significant political upheaval in Bangladesh, as the long-standing autocratic prime minister Sheikh Hasina was forced to flee the country amid a revolution led by students and citizens. Her 15-year rule had deeply corrupted and politicised various government institutions, including the...
