The erosion of democracy became most pronounced between 2014 and 2024.

In the heart of Kolkata, at 8 Shakespeare Sarani—formerly known as 8 Theatre Road—stands a building whose walls once echoed with the pulse of a nation's liberation.

My own act of resistance was small. It came in the form of a tiny pebble thrown at a military jeep passing through our town.

Rather than retreating in the face of bureaucratic inertia, these RTI warriors have adopted a strategy of persistence.

According to a recent Odhikar report, 40 people have been victims of extrajudicial killings in the 14 months since the interim government took office in August 2024.

Bangladesh's rights watchdog, the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), has been toothless and ineffective since its formation.

Two-year-old Sajid from Rajshahi was found dead on December 11, after more than 30 agonising hours trapped inside a narrow shaft, approximately 30 feet deep. Rescuers worked day and night tirelessly, while the country watched helplessly.

I remember reading a memorable quote from one of the characters in Humayun Ahmed's novel Jochona O Jononir Golpo (2004). She says something along the lines of: "Muktijuddho touched every Bangladeshi soul.

The longstanding public demand and decades of relentless advocacy by stakeholders, particularly articulated as a key aspiration of the July movement, for an independent police commission, have been ruthlessly and shamelessly shattered by the Police Commission Ordinance 2025, gazetted on December 09, 2025.

Occupying powers often follow the same old playbook. They fight not only armed opponents, but also the social conditions that make resistance possible—education, free speech, professional integrity, and the willingness to question authority.

For months, former UK Prime Minister Tony Blair's role has been lobbying US President Donald Trump's son-in-law, Jared Kushner, to head a "temporary transitional authority in Gaza.

Dhaka airport's Terminal-3, which had a soft launch in October 2023, has completed 99 percent of its construction, according to reports.

Once the elected government decides to adopt a particular reform or set of reforms, they will need to operationalise this through legislation.

Millions of Bangladeshi migrants living abroad send money home. This transfer for their left-behind families reflects the love and obligation that ripple through villages and towns, supporting livelihoods and boosting income.

This crisis is pushing us dangerously close to a pre-antibiotic era.

While we cannot control tectonic plates, we are not helpless in the face of climate degradation.

Begum Rokeya led a deeply pious life, full of respect for Islam and its values.

In 2024, real wages fell across the board: two percent for low-skilled workers, 0.5 percent for high-skilled.

The illusion of stability is maintained through small, delayed payments that create artificial demand.

Dhaka's suffocating reality stems directly from policy failures that treated urban planning as an obstacle, not a necessity.