Long Read
Banglabazar: All things book
Walking past the Jagannath University and Dhaka Collegiate School, amid heavy noise of construction work at Dhaka Sadar Post Office, these correspondents heard a voice that cut through the cacophony in narrow lanes of Old Dhaka.
Barind Farmers: At mercy of ‘water lords’
On April 9, Mukul Soren, a Santal farmer in Rajshahi, drank pesticide in a suicide attempt over not getting irrigation water from the same deep tubewell that allegedly led to the suicide of two farmers, also Santals, last year.
Bir Shreshtha portrait: Tale of the brush that brought them to light
The year was 1980. In room 16 of DU’s Shahid Shahnewaz hostel, Sheikh Afzal, a final-year student of Dhaka Art College, was deeply engrossed in painting the portraits of a number of Muktijoddhas. .The 21/22-year-old had very little idea about how they looked in real life..His only c
NARINDA CHRISTIAN CEMETERY / A silent witness to Dhaka’s history
With falling leaves, worn-out epitaphs and gravestones, and rustle of breeze whispering tales from four centuries ago -- Dhaka Christian Cemetery, known to city dwellers as Narinda or Wari cemetery, has been the resting place of many known or unsung heroes for decades.
As I Remember Syed Waliullah, My Papa
Thinking of Syed Waliullah and being his son always triggers contrasting feelings of joy and pride, melancholy and pain. Regrettably, neither my elder sister Simine nor I am able to remember much about our father, as we were both very young when he passed away.
Are we becoming a selfish, uncaring society?
Shemi’s ordeal proves that the ridiculously glamourised notion of the family being the guaranteed support system in drama series and films is grossly overstated.
LONG READ / Arial beel under threat
Arial Beel, one of the largest wetlands located in Munshiganj, is facing an invasion by illegal real estate developers. These business entities have acquired portions of the wetland, filling them up with sand and strategically placing signboards to attract potential buyers for residential development.
Sex trafficking: The untold exploitations of Bangladeshi women in India
Many Bangladeshi sex workers, once victims themselves, now serve as brothel managers, perpetuating the vicious cycle. They employ fellow countrywomen, who later become traffickers responsible for bringing new girls from Bangladesh into the clutches of these brothels.
A mega leap for transport
Government to open seven projects in September-October; AL to showcase them in campaign for general elections; expert urges building capacity for operations
Yunnan province of China
One has to visit China to discover its incredible diversity and breathtaking beauty.
Power sector external debt: Repayment may pose a challenge
The repayment of foreign loans in the power sector may worsen the country’s debt-servicing burden as the government will have to pay the lenders Tk 197,677.27 crore in the 30 years from 2024-25 fiscal.
Justice for Human Trafficking: A privilege now gets in the way
When migrant workers fell victim to labour trafficking and filed cases with the police, the law enforcers prosecuted or arrested the recruiting agents responsible for sending the workers abroad.
From the archives: The last battlefield
Across the country, red-green flags were fluttering over buildings -- euphoria was in the air following the end of a nine-month-long bloody war.
Is foul play the new normal?
You may have already seen the social media campaign ‘#payup’, asking Kardashian sisters Kendall and Kylie Jenner to pay up their suppliers in Bangladesh. You may have also read about British brand, Debenhams, which is asking for a whopping 90 percent discount on products from 40 suppliers in the country. What you may not know is that these are only two of at least 1,931 brands which have either delayed, put on hold, or straight-up cancelled their orders since the onset of Covid-19, as per data received from the BGMEA.
Separated, yet not: life on the porous Bangladesh-India border
Imagine the land border between India and Bangladesh. What do you think it is like? A fence that runs for miles? A craggy, clearly demarcated line like the one seen on maps? Communities living along the border will tell you otherwise. To many of them, the border is an invisible line anyone can step over without a visa.
The false propaganda about minority persecution in Bangladesh
In order to justify the discriminatory stance of the Citizenship Amendment Act 2019, something odd is happening—Bangladesh is being painted by elements within India as a violent state from which Hindus are fleeing away, into India.
9 prison doctors for 90,000 inmates
Over 23 inmates are dying every month, amid a shortage of doctors, nurses, and ambulances, and poor medical facilities in 68 prisons of the country.