‘The Fourth Estate will not survive unless defended’
Martin Moore and Thomas Colley, authors of Dictating Reality: The Global Battle to Control the News (2025), discuss how governments worldwide manipulate the media, reshape public perception, and construct competing realities in an age of digital disinformation. The interview was conducted by Shamsuddoza Sajen of The Daily Star.
2 November 2025, 05:00 AM
2 November 2025, 05:00 AM
‘The Fourth Estate will not survive unless defended’
Martin Moore and Thomas Colley, authors of Dictating Reality: The Global Battle to Control the News (2025), discuss how governments worldwide manipulate the media, reshape public perception, and construct competing realities in an age of digital disinformation. The interview was conducted by Shamsuddoza Sajen of The Daily Star.
2 November 2025, 05:00 AM
2 November 2025, 05:00 AM
Reading power: How everyday texts shaped life under the British Empire
At the heart of Required Reading are forgotten readers from the past.
28 October 2025, 10:46 AM
28 October 2025, 10:46 AM
Opinion / Whom will the Awami League supporters vote for?
The Awami League (AL) is very likely to haunt the entire exercise.
16 October 2025, 03:00 AM
16 October 2025, 03:00 AM
A voice of resistance, progressive thought falls silent
Badruddin Umar, the eminent public intellectual, historian, and political activist, passed away in Dhaka yesterday at the age of 94. He breathed his last at Bangladesh Specialised Hospital, Shyamoli, around 10:05am. He was suffering from old-age complications.
7 September 2025, 18:10 PM
7 September 2025, 18:10 PM
Badruddin Umar speaks / 'We must not lose focus from real political barriers'
Hasina took dynasty politics to levels we could not have ever imagined. What happened to Sheikh Mujib’s former residence was unfortunate. But I would say that Sheikh Hasina is partly responsible for the incident.
7 September 2025, 08:22 AM
7 September 2025, 08:22 AM
The 36th day of July / August 5, 2024: The day the people triumphed
August 5 became a watershed in Bangladesh’s history -- the climactic peak of the July uprising.
4 August 2025, 18:10 PM
4 August 2025, 18:10 PM
The July that rocked Bangladesh / August 4, 2024: The deadliest day of the uprising
August 4, 2024 marked the deadliest day of Bangladesh’s student-led uprising, as the non-cooperation movement entered an explosive new phase.
3 August 2025, 18:08 PM
3 August 2025, 18:08 PM
Tea workers’ suffering is not just a labour issue
On May 20, 1921, around 3,000 tea labourers were waiting at Chandpur railway station.
19 May 2022, 18:00 PM
‘Long delays defeat the purpose of justice’
Prof Abul Quasem Fazlul Huq, the Ahmad Sharif professor at the Department of Bangla in the University of Dhaka, speaks about the verdict on Prof Humayun Azad murder case, which came out yesterday, and the overall situation in Bangladesh in a conversation with Shamsuddoza Sajen and Priyam Paul of The Daily Star.
13 April 2022, 18:00 PM
Songs of our soil: In praise of Mymensingh’s Bangla folk ballads
Folk-ballads are living archives that represent the imagination, values, ideas, and aesthetics of the people to whom they belong. Folk-ballads are living archives that represent the imagination, values, ideas, and aesthetics of the people to whom they belong.
13 April 2022, 18:00 PM
Carole Angier on writing the biography of WG Sebald
In Speak, Silence: In Search of W.G. Sebald (Bloomsbury, 2021), you write that the author’s British publisher, Christopher MacLehose, was in a dilemma to decide on Sebald’s genre of writing. After writing about his novel and his life for so long, how would you define Sebald’s genre?
6 April 2022, 18:00 PM
“Most of the commentators are unaware of the importance of the events between 1948 and 1952.”
Badruddin Umar: As a general student, I participated in every public event of the Language Movement in 1952. On February 21, for example,
20 February 2022, 18:00 PM
Bangladesh wins freedom
The Liberation War in Bangladesh formally ended with the unconditional surrender by the Pakistan army in Dhaka today.
15 December 2021, 18:00 PM
Bhutto walks out in tears
In a letter dated December 15, 1971, Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi expressed her deep frustration to US President
14 December 2021, 18:00 PM
Malik cabinet resigns en masse
The entire regional government of East Pakistan headed by Dr AM Malik resigned today, disassociating itself from the central administration of Pakistan President Yahya Khan.
13 December 2021, 18:00 PM
Third Soviet veto bars truce plan
In a letter to the UN Secretary General U Thant, Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi said “there can be a ceasefire and withdrawal of Indian armed forces” if Pakistan withdraws its troops from Bangladesh and reaches a political solution with the leaders there.
12 December 2021, 18:00 PM
India, Russia discuss Bangladesh war
Soviet Deputy Foreign Minister Vasily V Kuznetsov held talks on Bangladesh with Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi today in New Delhi.
11 December 2021, 18:00 PM
Pakistan general sends SOS to UN
The Bangladesh government today banned four communal parties -- the Muslim League, the Jamaet-i-Islami, the Nizami Islam and the People’s Democratic Party. The announcement was made by acting president Syed Nazrul Islam in Jashore.
10 December 2021, 18:00 PM
Mitro Bahini closing in on Dhaka
In a backchannel message, Henry Kissinger, the US president’s Assistant for national security affairs, informed US
9 December 2021, 18:00 PM
Pakistan accepts truce call of UN
Pakistan informed the United Nations today that she had “decided to accept” the General Assembly’s call for ceasefire and for a withdrawal of hostile troops to their own soil.
8 December 2021, 18:00 PM
India derides UN proposal for ceasefire
A senior Indian spokesman today disputed statements by a White House spokesman that Indian military intervention in East Pakistan had foiled American efforts to persuade the Bangalee “insurgents” and the Pakistan authorities to reach a political settlement.
7 December 2021, 18:00 PM
General Assembly holds emergency debate
The UN General Assembly today held an emergency debate on the Indo-Pakistan war with Argentina proposing an immediate ceasefire and withdrawal of troops of both sides.
6 December 2021, 18:00 PM
India recognises Bangladesh
Amidst tumultuous cheers and jubilation at Lok Sabha, Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi announced today that India has recognised the government of Bangladesh.
5 December 2021, 18:00 PM
Russia vetoes troop-pullback proposal
The Soviet Union vetoed today in the UN Security Council an American resolution calling for an immediate ceasefire in the Indian-Pakistani conflict and for the withdrawal of the armed forces of both the countries to their own side of the border.
4 December 2021, 18:00 PM
My aim is to make Pakistan armed forces surrender: Lt Gen Aurora
The Mitro Bahini (India-Bangladesh Joint Command) swung into action against Pakistan today. The air force of the Joint Command
3 December 2021, 18:00 PM
Today the war in Bangladesh has become a war on India: Indira
Pakistan today launched an undeclared full-scale war on India. Pakistan made air strikes on a number of airfields in the western region of India and began shelling several places. Immediately,
2 December 2021, 18:00 PM
Pressure on India won’t work: Indira
Indian prime minister Indira Gandhi declared today that it did not worry India at all as to who called her aggressor when she had not committed any aggression.
1 December 2021, 18:00 PM