‘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 govt tells Nixon not to contribute to genocide
Acting president of the Government of Bangladesh Syed Nazrul Islam strongly deprecated renewed US arms supply to Pakistan. In a telegram to US President Richard Nixon, Nazrul said the government and people of Bangladesh were most hurt and distressed to learn about the arms supply.
23 June 2021, 18:00 PM
Abetting repression
Bangladesh Home Minister AHM Kamaruzzaman welcomed today the decision of the Aid Pakistan Consortium to withhold further aid until there was a political settlement of the Bangladesh issue.
22 June 2021, 18:00 PM
Senator urges Nixon to halt Pakistani ship
The office of Senator Edward M Kennedy said today the state department had informed the senator that two Pakistani freighters now en route from New York to Karachi were carrying ammunition for the Pakistani armed forces.
21 June 2021, 18:00 PM
Decision on aid postponed
Delegates of western industrial powers and Japan today postponed discussion of fresh aid for Pakistan until a political settlement of the conflict between East and West Pakistan is in sight.
20 June 2021, 18:00 PM
‘Sovereign Bangla only political solution’
Intellectuals and academicians of Bangladesh held that the only political solution with Pakistan was the emergence of a sovereign and an independent Bangladesh, according to Dr AR Mallick, founding vice-chancellor of Chittagong University.
18 June 2021, 18:00 PM
Yahya requests Nixon to persuade India
Pakistan President Yahya Khan, in a letter dated June 18, 1971, drew attention of American President Richard Nixon to the “rapidly mounting threat to peace and security in the sub-continent”.
17 June 2021, 18:00 PM
Indira Gandhi determined to send refugees back
Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi today reiterated that she would send back Bangladesh refugees as soon as normalcy was restored.
16 June 2021, 18:00 PM
Indian foreign minister meets Nixon
Indian Foreign Minister Sardar Swaran Singh carried to US President Richard Nixon today an urgent plea for help to achieve a political settlement in East Pakistan and enable the return of six million Bangladeshi refugees to their homes.
15 June 2021, 18:00 PM
Indian MPs want military action
Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi said in parliament today that the possibility of a political settlement in East Pakistan was “becoming more remote” every day.
14 June 2021, 18:00 PM
Yahya delays plan for power transfer
Pakistan President Agha Mohammad Yahya Khan postponed the announcement of his plan for the transfer of power to a civilian government. The president, who rules by martial authority, said May 24 that he would announce the plan in two to three weeks’ time.
13 June 2021, 18:00 PM
Our victory is assured: Tajuddin
Bangladesh Prime Minister Tajuddin Ahmad said today that the refugees now in India were keen on coming back home.
12 June 2021, 18:00 PM
Bangladesh issue will linger: Indira Gandhi
The United States appealed today to India and Pakistan to exercise restraint and urged the Pakistanis to restore normalcy in East Pakistan through “peaceful political accommodation”.
11 June 2021, 18:00 PM
Spike in guerilla attacks
Mukti Fouj guerillas made a series of attacks on Pakistani positions in Cumilla sector in the last few days, killing at least 28 Pakistani soldiers, according to Swadhin Bangla Betar Kendra. Twenty soldiers were killed when guerillas ambushed a Pakistani army column near Fakirhat on June 10, 1971.
10 June 2021, 18:00 PM
Tikka Khan offers general amnesty
The Pakistani Government offered today a general amnesty extending to military deserters and politicians and asked refugees to return home.
9 June 2021, 18:00 PM
Operation Hotel InterContinental
Commandos of the Crack Platoon today launched an attack at InterContinental Dhaka. The commandos, armed with grenades, bayonets, and submachine guns, stopped in a car in front of the hotel. Five grenades were thrown in the attack which took place between 7:45pm and 8:00pm.
8 June 2021, 18:00 PM
UK refuses aid to Pakistan
The reported statement of Pakistan President Yahya Khan that he would take “genuine refugees” back into Pakistan met with sharp reaction from the Bangladesh government today.
7 June 2021, 18:00 PM
2 largest currency denominations withdrawn
The Pakistani government removed from circulation today part of the nation’s currency in an effort to check the economic effects of looting from banks in East Pakistan.
6 June 2021, 18:00 PM
Pakistan is dead: Syed Nazrul
Syed Nazrul Islam, acting president of Bangladesh, today spelt out four preconditions for a political settlement of the Bangladesh issue. In a 45-minute broadcast from the Swadhin Bangla Betar Kendra,
5 June 2021, 18:00 PM
A conversation with Yahya Khan
In a telegram sent to the US State Department on June 5, 1971, US Ambassador in Pakistan Joseph Farland provided a detailed account of his conversation with Pakistan President Yahya Khan. The meeting was held on the same day.
4 June 2021, 18:00 PM
Effort to form new party
Pakistan and the United Nations agreed on relief operations for victims of the war in East Pakistan, a UN spokesman announced today.
3 June 2021, 18:00 PM