Zyma Islam

Impunity under the radar

There was a king named Prithu Raja in northern Bangladesh in the 13th century. He had a fort city in Panchagarh called Bhitargarh, and he may or may not have died by committing suicide in a lake.

Burimari union, a border village nestling in a nook of the Indian district of Cooch Behar, is a village of stones and stone-crushing yards.

For months, our public universities have been erupting in protests, with students demanding some very basic things: vice-chancellors who are not corrupt, teachers who cannot bribe their way into the university, student political wings who do not extort or oppress (or murder), effective sexual harassment policies, and freedom of expression.

The story of Teesta begins 23,386 ft above the sea-level at the Pahunri glacier nestled between the Tibet and India border.

Around halfway through the Jahangirnagar University campus one would notice age-old rusting signboards with caution warnings like

“We can read it ourselves inside our homes but we can’t organise a reading circle to share the contents of the manual, without

When the concrete casting of the ceiling at Gausia market broke off and fell on my head last week, I was determined to hold someone

Just as the city corporations were about to lay down the shovels and pat themselves on the back for a job well done cleaning up all the qurbani waste, more appeared on the streets. Traders threw away reeking piles of hides, dumping them in public garbage spots (also known as sidewalks).

The Modhupur sal forest exists on the map of northern Bangladesh as a small blob of green in what is otherwise a sea of grey. Being designated the colour green on a map is special—it means that patch of land is an unruly,

Ismail* is about 16–years–old, and lives in Korail bosti with his mother. He comes over once a week to help me clean my house.

What Priya Saha cited to Donald Trump is a statistical fallacy, and downright irresponsible, but what is way more problematic was our reaction to it.

Just one paisa of the gas bill being paid by a consumer, means Tk 35 crores in revenue for the utility companies.

Please accept this letter as formal notification of my resignation from my position in Pathao. As per my appointment letter I am

It was while shopping for jewellery for my wedding last year that I realised just how much of the gold in the glitzy, gilded shops are possibly smuggled.

One thing is apparent from the budget promises of this year—the “tide of development” that the country seems to be surfing on will

Board any flight to Kathmandu, and the co-passengers would nearly all be happy, vacation-bound Bangladeshi families. Nepal with its

Her home is two boat rides away from central Narsingdi—first, a boat drops you off on the outermost banks of the char, and then after crossing half a mile across the sandy islet, a smaller dinghy takes you down a canal that feeds into the body of char.

Everything is going as is at the traffic signal beside Dhanmondi road number 32, when all of a sudden, the jhalmuriwalah hoists up his

When the Accord and Alliance signed on different brands from all over the world after the Rana Plaza collapse in 2013, they pledged that the factories that these brands will do business with will ensure safe working conditions for the workers.