6 essential Rabindranaths you should read

One does not need to remember Rabindranath on the occasion of the anniversary of his death—22 Srabon or August 7 to be precise.
7 August 2024, 18:00 PM

Internet outage and our rights

At present, internet is no more a luxury, rather a day-to-day necessity for our survival. Internet not only keeps us in touch with the world at large, it also works as a medium to exercise an array of civil and political rights of the citizens (ranging from freedom of speech and expression to the right to use and impart information).
1 August 2024, 18:00 PM

The new quota scheme

Positive discrimination or affirmative action schemes are permitted under articles 28(4) and 29(3) of the Constitution of Bangladesh. The preamble to the constitution envisions an egalitarian and exploitation-free society where there is fundamental freedom and dignity.
1 August 2024, 18:00 PM

On the disproportionate use of force on protests

The reason we have law enforcement agencies in modern states is to protect the rights of the citizens. However, when disproportionate force is used against the citizens by states using these agencies, the very same rights are violated. Below is an analysis keeping the quota reform movement in the background.
1 August 2024, 18:00 PM

4 books I was grateful to read this year

It's true, I feel differently about books that I previously disliked or enjoyed reading and books that I want as a physical presence in my life
31 July 2024, 18:00 PM

Witnessing the Turkish century

In the post-9/11 world, no country’s name has been evoked more than Turkey’s (or its newly rebranded name of Türkiye) in public discussions by foreign policy pundits and politicians alike, to demonstrate the harmonious symbiosis of the East and West, Islam and secularism, and tradition and modernity.
31 July 2024, 18:00 PM

A forgotten chapter in the intellectual movement of Bengali Muslims

Anwarul Quadir (1887-1948) was a key literary figure whose work significantly influenced the intellectual movement of Bengali Muslims in late colonial Bengal.
28 July 2024, 18:00 PM

An Iconic History of Bengal

In the sixties of the last century, I earned my primary degree with majors in Philosophy and Indian Studies and became a secondary school teacher.
15 July 2024, 18:00 PM

Coach Gambhir's agenda as he steers India into new phase

A packed calendar across formats awaits Gambhir and the Indian team.
12 July 2024, 04:01 AM

CONMEBOL to probe brawl between Uruguay players and Colombia fans

Players and staff from both Colombia and Uruguay were also involved in a confrontation on the field after the final whistle.
12 July 2024, 03:15 AM

When fiction and nonfiction create a literary supernova

When a book mentions one of my favourite authors, W. Somerset Maugham, and the short description suggests betrayal, intrigue, secret affairs, political uprisings, failed marriages, and a whodunnit, there’s little I can do but take it.
10 July 2024, 18:00 PM

When death is a performance

Kaveh Akbar’s Martyr! is unruly and endearing. Akbar’s years as a poet has given his debut novel an honesty that shines through the book’s arduous structure. And for all of Martyr!’s exhilarating tone and emotional trek, the difficulties of writing a novel on addiction, martyrdom, death, and meaning is evident when one reads it.
10 July 2024, 18:00 PM

Cartographic Imagination and Colonial Landscape Paintings in and around Bengal

Cartography in India might have had its roots in this expansionist ambition but went on to achieve much more than this. Rennell’s Map of Hindostan, published by an act of Parliament in 1782, inaugurated the cartographic identity of modern India for the first time on the world stage.
7 July 2024, 18:00 PM

Challenges and prospects of enforcing foreign decrees in Bangladesh

In today’s globalised world order, cross-border transactions and consequent disputes have been a common phenomenon.
4 July 2024, 18:00 PM

Navigating jurisdictional complexities in the Anwarul Azim murder case

Recently, there has been significant press coverage in Bangladesh and India regarding the heinous murder of Bangladeshi Member of Parliament Anwarul Azim in India. The majority of the accused individuals are of Bangladeshi origin and have been apprehended in Bangladesh. However, the primary culprit, who happens to be a Bangladeshi American, escaped to the United States. Therefore, three countries are now involved with this case, prompting a discussion on jurisdiction over crimes in international context.
4 July 2024, 18:00 PM

Genocide, denial, and Gaza

Genocide denial is deeply rooted in socio-political, and historical complexities and manifests in many forms across instances like the Armenian, Holocaust, Roman, Rwandan, Bangladesh, and Rohingya genocides, to name a few.  The genocide unfolding in Gaza is live streamed before the world and yet its continuance is being vehemently denied by Israel and its allies.
4 July 2024, 18:00 PM

Speaking up for the intellectual resurgence in non-cosmopolitan Bengal

“My reader, I dip into the water just for you.” Bibhas Roy Chowdhury
3 July 2024, 18:00 PM

A wound in our experience

“An exceptional novel that makes gender disappear to build unconventional love and friendship”
3 July 2024, 18:00 PM

Navigating Non-Performing Loans (NPLs) and loan defaults in Bangladesh

The issue of defaulting on loans continues to be the biggest trouble for the banking industry. At the end of March 2024, total disbursed loans stood at BDT 16,40,000 crore, of which BDT 1,82,000 crore were in default, the highest in the history of Bangladesh. Currently, 11.11 percent of disbursed loans have turned into NPLs.
27 June 2024, 18:00 PM

Our “immutable” Constitution and the paradoxes of Article 7B

Bangladesh’s Constitution has seen its “basic structures” altered by several amendments. Several of those amendments altered the Constitution so drastically that we tend to call them “constitutional dismemberments”– a term borrowed from Professor Richard Albert of the University of Texas at Austin. The Supreme Court of Bangladesh declared some, such as the Fifth and Seventh, constitutional amendments, unconstitutional. Some, such as the Fifteenth, were never formally challenged.
27 June 2024, 18:00 PM