Column by Mahfuz Anam / PM continues to build confidence, BNP corrodes it
4 September 2026
What are the lessons of July charter that need to be implemented?
4 September 2026
Column by Mahfuz Anam / Expectations from BNP’s next secretary general
21 August 2026
Congratulations to Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir for being elected president of Bangladesh. We believe he will restore to the post much of the dignity that was eroded by the former one.
21 August 2026
Column by Mahfuz Anam / Political acumen is fine, but economic expertise is crucial
7 August 2026
In Bangladesh, we love democracy, cherish it and fight for it, but we have repeatedly failed to make it durable.
7 August 2026
Column by Mahfuz Anam / July charter implementation: Growing distance between BNP and the opposition is worrisome
24 July 2026
After our Liberation War, we started off with the parliamentary system of government. Then Bangabandhu himself betrayed that vision and that of multiparty democracy by instituting BAKSAL, a one-party system, and introducing the presidential model of government.
24 July 2026
Column by Mahfuz Anam / 250 years of US independence: Do Americans know or care about their founding principles?
10 July 2026
America’s most powerful attraction—freedom of thought—is under stress today.
10 July 2026
Column by Mahfuz Anam / The PM says police don’t belong to any party. Can we establish this in practice?
15 May 2026
The prime minister’s quote that I use as the headline of this column is music to our ears, constituting the most vital policy directive that this country needs to take.
15 May 2026
Column by Mahfuz Anam / Politicisation of our professions
1 May 2026
A fact that we don’t discuss much, and seem to have taken as a given, is the politicisation of our various professions.
1 May 2026
Column by Mahfuz Anam: 35th anniversary of The Daily Star / When independent newspapers burn, so does democracy
24 April 2026
When independent, objective and fact-based newspapers are set on fire, it is democracy that burns.
24 April 2026
‘We will do whatever is required for the welfare of the people’
So who determines what is ‘required’ to ensure that welfare?
16 March 2023
Column by Mahfuz Anam: Rewarding thuggery, punishing talent
The worrisome state of once glorious student activism
9 March 2023
Securing the safety of ordinary students
The real culprit is the BCL's sense of entitlement.
2 March 2023
President, Presidency and Democracy
A government cannot always be totally moral, but a president has to be.
23 February 2023
Abdur Rouf Chowdhury: Entrepreneur par excellence
Rouf bhai was one of the most creative entrepreneurs in the country, having founded many companies in very diverse fields
19 February 2023
Column by Mahfuz Anam: Child abuse and our crumbling social norms
There is a bias against the poor that leads to a general acceptance of violence against them.
9 February 2023
Column by Mahfuz Anam: Who runs the country?
There is no question as to who runs the country. It is Sheikh Hasina, our prime minister. But who does she run it through?
26 January 2023
Mahfuz Anam Writes: In ‘Smart Bangladesh,’ how smart is it to kill our rivers?
As if in vengeance we have been ferociously and relentlessly destroying our rivers in, what can only be termed as, a suicidal streak.
19 January 2023
Mahfuz Anam writes: What is the state of Awami League as a political party?
This election year, the question that will inevitably come to the fore is of how successful AL has been in keeping its promises.
5 January 2023
Mahfuz Anam writes: From Bangabandhu to Sheikh Hasina
Awami League’s journey from a party leading a struggle to a party long in power.
22 December 2022
COLUMN BY MAHFUZ ANAM: A competition of errors
Is our government so weak that a proposed public meeting threatens it?
8 December 2022
Big budget, bigger corruption
Lack of accountability and the culture of impunity destroyed governance from within.
1 December 2022
Will the government touch the ‘untouchables’?
The default-loan narrative has smeared our otherwise powerful story of graduation from the Least Developed Country (LDC) status.
17 November 2022
Column by Mahfuz Anam: The underlying story of a simple photograph
As an editor, I commend the photographer, the caption writer, and the news editor for depicting a sad reality with such subtle deftness.
10 November 2022
Column by Mahfuz Anam: UK’s Conservative Party and Our Politics
Recent leadership changes may appear chaotic, but ultimately demonstrate political accountability
27 October 2022
Will free media be harassed in the name of data protection?
DSA’s new curbs and OTT draft rules give the opening
20 October 2022
Bangladesh Press Council: Is the protector turning into a ‘predator’?
What is of serious concern for us is the secrecy with which the Press Council has dealt with the matter.
25 August 2022
Is the Press Council looking out for journalists' interests?
Will the amended Press Council Act further restrain free press?
25 August 2022
DS View: Embarrassing the PM to the core
While speaking at an event in Chattogram, last evening (August 18, 2022), our Foreign Minister Abdul Momen, said “I went to India and said Sheikh Hasina’s continuation must be ensured.”
19 August 2022
Column by Mahfuz Anam: No govt has ever fallen for being self-critical
If we want to stop being lectured by international bodies, then we as a people, and much more so our government, must listen to our own critical voices.
18 August 2022