‘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
‘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
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
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
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
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
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
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
Bangladesh mission opened in New Delhi
The Bangladesh mission was formally opened in New Delhi today. In the solemn, simple and touching flag-hoisting ceremony the green-red-gold flag broke at the mast with a choral rendition of the Bangladesh national anthem.
29 August 2021, 18:00 PM
We have to make it ourselves, says Tajuddin
Tajuddin Ahmed, prime minister of Bangladesh, said at Mujibnagar today, “None can bring us freedom. We have to achieve it ourselves by shedding our blood.”
28 August 2021, 18:00 PM
‘A dangerous and volatile situation’
US Senator Charles Percy today called for the rights of self-determination of the people of Bangladesh. "The will of the electorate must be carried out," he said.
27 August 2021, 18:00 PM
Bangladesh mission at London
Pakistan is now dead and two countries have been born in its place, said Justice Abu Sayeed Chowdhury, speaking today at the inaugural function of the Bangladesh Mission in London. Justice Chowdhury was the overseas representative of the Bangladesh government.
26 August 2021, 18:00 PM
Kennedy calls for stopping US aid to Pakistan
Citing what he termed as a “cruel policy of repression”, Senator Edward Kennedy today called on US President Richard Nixon to cut off all American aid to West Pakistan.
25 August 2021, 18:00 PM
Bangladesh allowance for Rebel Poet Nazrul
The Bangladesh government decided today to grant 350 rupees as monthly allowance to Rebel Poet Kazi Nazrul Islam, now ailing in Kolkata.
24 August 2021, 18:00 PM
Indira writes to Chou on Bangladesh
Indira Gandhi made yet another important breakthrough by writing directly to her counterpart in China, Premier Chou En-lai, on Bangladesh affairs.
23 August 2021, 18:00 PM
New recognition bid by Bangladesh govt
India has been consulting the leaders of the Bangladesh government to find out how, if at all, the issue of Bangladesh could be raised before the world’s highest forum -- the United Nations General Assembly beginning next month in New York.
22 August 2021, 18:00 PM
Reluctant candidates in Dhaka
The Daily Telegraph reported that no candidates could be found for the 79 constituencies which had been declared vacant by the Martial Law Authority in East Pakistan.
21 August 2021, 18:00 PM
Yahya discusses trial of Bangabandhu
In a telegram sent today to the US Department of State, Joseph Farland, the US ambassador to Pakistan, provided an interesting detail of his discussion with Pakistan President Yahya Khan about the trial of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. The one-on-one meeting took place on August 19, 1971.
19 August 2021, 18:00 PM
AL legislators disqualified
The Pakistan government today disqualified 195 of the 288 Awami League members elected to the 310’seat East Pakistani Provincial Assembly. They were charged with “incitement to murder, rape, kidnapping, attacks on police posts and banks, armed robbery, rebellion and conspiring with the enemy”.
18 August 2021, 18:00 PM
Serious ‘insurgency movement’ in East Pakistan: Kissinger
Henry Kissinger, the US president’s assistant for national security affairs, today sent a memorandum to President Richard Nixon discussing implications of the situation in South Asia.
17 August 2021, 18:00 PM
Kosygin warns Yahya
Soviet Premier Alexei Kosygin was said to have told Pakistan President Yahya Khan that any war with India will be suicidal for Pakistan. Kosygin conveyed this in a message which the new Soviet Ambassador to Pakistan AA Rodinov delivered at Rawalpindi today.
16 August 2021, 18:00 PM
Kennedy terms Pakistani drive genocide
US Senator Edward M Kennedy today denounced Pakistan’s military action against Bangladeshis as genocide and said the secret trial of Bangladeshi leader Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman was “an outrage to every concept of international law”.
15 August 2021, 18:00 PM
Naval operation that shook Pakistan
Bangladeshi naval commandos launched their first attack today. In the night, they attacked simultaneously the ports of Mongla, Chittagong, Chandpur, Narayanganj, and sunk 26 gunboats of the Pak army carrying commodities, arms and ammunitions.
14 August 2021, 18:00 PM
Nixon warns Yahya of famine
In a letter dated August 14, 1971, US President Richard Nixon advised Pakistan President Yahya Khan to step up relief efforts to avert the risk of famine.
13 August 2021, 18:00 PM
‘Yahya a power maniac’
A Pakistani freighter due to dock in Philadelphia was forced to change its course and head for Baltimore after pickets supporting the cause of Bangladesh -- backed by a non-violent fleet of small craft -- occupied the shore and the inlet.
12 August 2021, 18:00 PM
‘The fate of Sheikh Mujib’
The Times (London), in an editorial titled ‘The Fate of Sheikh Mujib’, wrote today that the decision to try Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman in secret was lamentable.
11 August 2021, 18:00 PM
Indira calls upon nations to save Bangabandhu
India Prime Minister Indira Gandhi appealed to 23 heads of government around the world to use their influence to save Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. In messages sent yesterday and made public today, she said India feared the trial of Bangabandhu “will be used only as a cover to execute him”.
10 August 2021, 18:00 PM
Thant sounds warning about Bangabandhu trial
UN Secretary General U Thant warned today that the trial of Bangladeshi leader Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman would “inevitably have repercussions outside the borders of Pakistan”.
9 August 2021, 18:00 PM