The recently held parliamentary election in Bangladesh was watched more closely than usual.

Large mandates are usually treated as moments of political triumph. In institutional terms, however, they are something else: a change in the conditions under which power operates.

In late December, several houses of minority communities in Raozan and Rangunia upazilas of Chattogram were padlocked from outside and set on fire, forcing families to cut their way out to safety.

At first glance, the interim administration appears to be doing what transitional governments are expected to do. The ground has been steadied.

Bangladesh is not unfamiliar with the image of women in power. In fact, two women have governed this country for nearly the entirety of its democratic era.

As Bangladesh and India begin the long, delicate process of discussing the future of the Ganges Water Sharing Treaty, the real challenge may not lie in hydrology, technical committees, or even climate variability.

The question is not only who attacked our cultural spaces in 2025, but what kind of responses followed.

Tarique Rahman’s return to Bangladesh after 17 years in exile has been greeted with a scale of emotion that is understandable. There were crowds, chants, tears, symbolism layered upon symbolism.

Every so often, news reports surface to remind us of the painfully perpetual existence of the Rohingya crisis in our very own backwaters.

The image of a burnt copy of The Daily Star, dated Victory Day, is difficult to shake off. It stays with you long after you scroll past it on your social media newsfeed—not because it is dramatic, but because of what it reveals.

Journalists today must be both defenders of truth and advocates for change within the profession and in the wider society.

The ruling regime should focus less on talking and more on actions, to create a conducive environment that truly eliminates corruption.

It is high time Bangladesh revised its national security strategy and worked in close collaboration with the other key regional players.

That Biman is a highly corrupt institution that thrives on shameless plundering of public money is no secret.

These measures are a slap in the face of honest taxpayers who diligently pay taxes on their legitimate income every year.

We have become a society in which children have become a tool to satiate the filthy desires of the stronger

Bangladesh Food Safety Authority (BFSA) has recently sued the owners of seven companies for selling five popular brands of electrolyte drink without necessary approvals.

Dhaka's air did not become unbreathable overnight, nor is there any instant solution to it.

In Bangladesh, we have a long way to go in encouraging, promoting and creating a conducive ecosystem for the inclusion of more women in sports.

It remains to be seen what Israel does with its replenished weapons inventory.