‘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
Thant for political solution
The UN Secretary General U Thant affirmed that the basic problem in East Pakistan could be solved only “if a political solution based on reconciliation and the respect of humanitarian principles was achieved.”
18 September 2021, 18:00 PM
World meet on Bangladesh opens
The three-day conference on Bangladesh began today in New Delhi. It was organised by the Gandhi Peace Foundation. The conference was a major international attempt to draw attention to the Bangladesh issue which had been hitting the headlines all over the world since March 25, 1971.
17 September 2021, 18:00 PM
No request made for Israeli arms
Justice Abu Sayeed Chaudhury today described as a “monstrous” lie worthy of a Joseph Goebbels to say Bangladesh “wants to buy arms from Israel”.
16 September 2021, 18:00 PM
Pakistan army using FAO boats for repression
The Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) accused Pakistan of diverting boats and vehicles intended for carrying relief materials for military use. In a formal note to the UN Secretary General U Thant, the FAO brought this charge against Pakistan.
15 September 2021, 18:00 PM
Malraux wants to join Bangladesh Liberation War
The Bangladesh government issued an order asking all East Bengali diplomats abroad to either opt for Bangladesh within a fortnight or face condemnation as traitors to the cause of Bangladesh.
14 September 2021, 18:00 PM
Podgorny calls for ‘speediest political settlement’
Pakistan President Yahya Khan flew to Tehran today for a two-day visit, and was met at the Airport by the Shah of Iran. Informed sources said the two leaders were expected to discuss the Bangladesh crisis.
13 September 2021, 18:00 PM
Khurram Panni defects to Bangladesh
The Pakistan Ambassador to the Philippines Khurram Panni today defected to the Bangladesh government. Khurram Panni, 49, was the first diplomat of ambassadorial rank to defect to the Bangladesh cause. He came to Manila as ambassador in March, 1970 and his tenure of duty was not scheduled to end until late in October, 1971.
12 September 2021, 18:00 PM
Shah of Persia may mediate
On the occasion of the 2,500th anniversary of the founding of monarchy in Iran, there rose a possibility that the Shah of Persia would try to bring about a rapprochement on Bangladesh between India and Pakistan with blessings from the Nixon
11 September 2021, 18:00 PM
Only self-rule will satisfy Bangladesh: Galbraith
Bangladesh’s Foreign Minister Khandaker Mushtaque Ahmed would present the case of Bangladesh before the UN General Assembly.
10 September 2021, 18:00 PM
Bangladesh to send team to UN
The Bangladesh government decided to send a delegation to the upcoming session of the United Nations General Assembly.
9 September 2021, 18:00 PM
Bangladesh Liberation Front formed
A broad democratic front comprising the five main political parties of Bangladesh was formed today to conduct the liberation struggle. A consultative committee of eight members was set up to advise the Bangladesh government and to issue guidelines to the Mukti Bahini.
8 September 2021, 18:00 PM
Free Bangladesh to join Commonwealth
India had opened a meaningful dialogue with China and the USA, as with many other countries, on the Bangladesh issue. Some significant developments were expected soon after Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi’s visit to the USA.
7 September 2021, 18:00 PM
Bangladesh wants to join UN session
The Government of Bangladesh wants to send a delegation to the UN General Assembly session in New York which is due to begin on September 21. Bangladesh’s Foreign Secretary Mahbub Alam discussed such a proposal today with the officials of the Indian external affairs ministry.
6 September 2021, 18:00 PM
Yahya’s ‘amnesty’ trap
The Bangladesh mission in Calcutta would henceforth be designated as high commission for the Bangladesh government, a Bangladesh government spokesperson announced today.
5 September 2021, 18:00 PM
Tajuddin urges states to recognise
Prime Minister of Bangladesh Tajuddin Ahmed, in a broadcast today, appealed to all nations to accord recognition to Bangladesh to accelerate the pace of the freedom movement.
4 September 2021, 18:00 PM
Bangladesh’s reply to Yahya
Hossain Ali, the chief of the Bangladesh mission in Kolkata, today presented to the sons of Kazi Nazrul Islam a cheque for 2,100 rupees as pension for the poet.
3 September 2021, 18:00 PM
Nazrul’s family refuses pension from Pakistan
Kazi Sabyashachi, son of rebel poet Kazi Nazrul Islam, outright rejected today Pakistan’s offer to renew payment of monthly allowances to the poet. He said they would not touch the blood-stained money of Pakistan.
2 September 2021, 18:00 PM
Pakistan asks diplomats to surrender passports
Evidently panic-stricken at the large-scale defection of Bangalee members of its mission staff, the Pakistan government today took an unprecedented step to seize passports of all its diplomatic staff abroad.
1 September 2021, 18:00 PM
When my soldiers kill, they do it cleanly: Yahya
Pakistan President General Yahya Khan appointed Dr Abdul Motaleb Malik as the civil governor of East Pakistan. Malik had no say in the martial law administration.
31 August 2021, 18:00 PM
‘Famine inevitable’
Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi told Bangladeshi refugees in Cooch Behar today that India was doing all it could do to promote the cause of the Bangladesh liberation struggle.
30 August 2021, 18:00 PM