Badiuzzaman Bay

And so, the long-anticipated election that has brought together familiar foes for yet another battle of wits and wagers is finally over.

I was in Bandarban towards the end of this April. An extended holiday weekend had just begun, with fatigued tourists crossing hundreds of miles from around the country to reach this dreamy south-eastern district of Bangladesh.

The curse of growing up with literature is that you find something to romanticise about even in the saddest human experience.

That's the title of a book published in 2005, by an Indian writer who has dedicated her life to fighting for labour rights and women's

At this time, in this city, on this land along the shore of the Bay of Bengal, the angel of death works double time. There is always someone to kill, someone to trap or exploit, someone to drive crazy, someone expendable. How else will you explain the seismic waves of tragedies, misfortunes and betrayals that are breaking on our shores every day? How else will you justify your existence in a country so self-righteously preening itself over its moral credentials when, clearly, it is being dominated by thugs, rapists, and misanthropes?

A society's culture can be broadly defined as its “way of life”—beliefs and customs generally shared by the people of that particular

Writers are not usually the most beloved of creatures to those who know them. The reason, as Samaresh Majumdar once explained, has something to do with how they source material for their writings. He said he collected material from real-life events, social gatherings and personal anecdotes confided in him, and used that in his novels, sometimes to the chagrin of his sources.

In a country known for its supreme indifference to the plight of people like her—disabled, poor, and female—Nasima is a shining example of defiance although her battle remains as arduous as the day it had first begun.

Like many millennials who grew up reading Muhammed Zafar Iqbal's coming-of-age novels Hatkata Robin, Dipu Number Two, Amar Bondhu Rashed and his sci-fi books, I was once fascinated by every word that he wrote.

As the Rohingya crisis enters its seventh month, chances of it ending in a peaceful manner are quickly evaporating.

"Our examinations hardly test the students' creativity; these are geared more toward testing their memory. Take the MCQ system. It's a quick and snappy way to judge the proficiency of students in a particular topic," says Syed Manzoorul Islam.

If you're a Harry Potter fan, you must have heard the simple past tense version of this heading. Harry, “The Boy Who Lived,” survived the Dark Lord's wrath with the mysterious powers of magic. The Deathly Hallows. Elder Wand. Invisibility Cloak. Yes, his mother's love, too, but a wizardly one at that. As fascinating as that reads on paper, the world of magic and miracles is not for mere mortals.

There is no mistaking the severity of the crisis faced by our private healthcare.

It felt like déjà vu when State Minister for Information Tarana Halim, just days into joining the ministry, delivered her “Banglish” judgment.

It was a kind of trip, I was told, that required passion and precision, courage, physical fitness, and above all, strong resolve. To me, as much as to those who had signed up for the thrill of it, it seemed like a rodeo minus the horses.

Dear 2017, There are so many things I want to tell you that I don't know where to begin.

THE year 2017 will be remembered for many reasons but the most significant of these is perhaps the Rohingya crisis.

US President Donald Trump has recently recognised Jerusalem as Israel's capital, drawing sharp international criticism and threatening Yousef Ramadan, Head of Mission at the Embassy of the State of Palestine in Bangladesh, talks to Badiuzzaman Bay of The Daily Star about the unilateral US decision, its implications, and what Bangladesh can learn from the Palestinian experience to deal with the Rohingya crisis.

I was 16 years old when I first touched a computer. It was after my Dakhil exams when the madrasa administration decided that it was time we got ourselves introduced to the world of machines.

Just when we thought we've seen enough of Bangladesh Chhatra League, an organisation that has been the subject of one shocking headline after another over the last eight years, the student wing of the ruling Awami League has found a way to send us into collective shock again.