Badiuzzaman Bay

OF MAGIC & MADNESS

Badiuzzaman Bay is Assistant Editor, The Daily Star. He can be reached at [email protected]

The more BNP talks about reforms, the less convincing it sounds

BNP’s adversarial politics hurts more because it was expected to lead a new culture of politics.

2m ago

Devils, heroes, or something in between?

Should we continue to condone unregulated public outbursts?

4m ago

No more concessions for India on border killing or fencing

Protecting our citizens and our border integrity is non-negotiable

5m ago

BNP faces the weight of history and expectations

For all its pro-reform posturing, BNP has yet to signal a real willingness to lead political reforms, including within itself.

8m ago

The new age demands a re-reading of Bangabandhu

Bangabandhu as a subject of study should be approached with an openness to embrace truths, however unflattering.

10m ago

The nine lives of a corrupt public servant

Let's delve into the hypothetical lifelines in a public servant’s career that help them indulge in corruption.

11m ago

Cow running amok in a shopping mall: It’s not a ‘moo’ point

Animals in Bangladesh are losing their homes because people are taking over their spaces.

1y ago

The only budget I care about is one that reduces my bills

Budget day is turning into our very own Groundhog Day.

1y ago
October 18, 2020
October 18, 2020

Death penalty minus political will to stop rape is just good optics

From harsh legal penalties to severe moral reprimands, from street protests and sit-ins to virtual seminars and teach-ins, from increasing mobilisation and visibilisation of pro-choice activists to critical interventions by state and non-state actors—nothing, and no one, seems to be able to deter the rapists or protect women and children.

October 2, 2020
October 2, 2020

We must confront organised violence with organised love

What does it mean to be nonviolent in a world full of horror and chaos, not to mention weapons and instruments of every kind created to inflict pain?

September 24, 2020
September 24, 2020

A criminal bucket list: having fools as bosses

Stories of corruption no longer produce the same shock they once did.

August 27, 2020
August 27, 2020

We must save the press before coronavirus sinks it

In April, British journalist and author Susie Boniface, in an article for Mirror Online, asked her readers to take a moment to imagine a world in which there is no journalism.

August 20, 2020
August 20, 2020

Legacy of Covid-19: The good, the bad and the messy

No, the pandemic is not over—far from it, actually, despite what the ministers might tell you—although at times it does feel like we’ve reached the end.

July 23, 2020
July 23, 2020

The Art of Being Tajuddin Ahmad

Nearly half a century after the 1971 War of Liberation, it is perhaps difficult to produce or come across startlingly original ideas about Tajuddin Ahmad.

July 21, 2020
July 21, 2020

The ministry of utmost disappointment

The call for defunding police in the US, after the death of George Floyd in police brutality, is one of the most striking messages coming out of what is perhaps the largest civil movement in US history.

July 11, 2020
July 11, 2020

My father was an undocumented migrant worker. People like him don’t deserve your scorn

Not long ago, I was watching a webinar on the plight of returning migrant workers streamed live on Facebook by The Daily Star.

July 4, 2020
July 4, 2020

End of state-owned jute mills: why close when you can reform?

So it’s official now. The government is going to shut down all 25 state-owned jute mills operated by Bangladesh Jute Mills Corporation (BJMC) and lay off about 25,000 workers involved with them.

June 25, 2020
June 25, 2020

How about leaving some space for ordinary patients?

In 1883, the American poet Emma Lazarus wrote a sonnet about the virtues of diversity and inclusion.