Column by Mahfuz Anam / 250 years of US independence: Do Americans know or care about their founding principles?
10 July 2026, 00:00 AM
THE THIRD VIEW
Bangladesh needs a new rulebook for the evolving Rohingya crisis
10 July 2026, 09:00 AM
Editorial
Bangladesh's next strategic test isn't choosing sides
10 July 2026, 11:00 AM
Views
The World Cup: One month of shared humanity
9 July 2026, 16:10 PM
Views
‘Unequal rural load-shedding is a symptom of a deeper structural crisis’
9 July 2026, 09:00 AM
Interviews
Bangladesh should enter carbon markets on its own terms
9 July 2026, 11:00 AM
Views
The budgetary test of moral leadership
9 July 2026, 12:00 PM
Views
How Bangladesh is leaving tobacco tax revenue on the table
9 July 2026, 08:00 AM
Views
Bangladesh must prepare for the new era of development finance
8 July 2026, 08:00 AM
MACRO MIRROR
Tribute to Abul Quasem Fazlul Haq: A beacon in the classroom and beyond
8 July 2026, 00:00 AM
Views
Education system must be built on proficiency, not pass rates
One of the toughest challenges for the new government is to ensure just educational opportunities for over four crore young people.
27 February 2026, 00:21 AM
A controversial decision
Critical decisions are usually judged by three things: their merit, method, and meaning or significance.
27 February 2026, 00:01 AM
Does a referendum mandate mean unlimited authority?
The 2026 referendum was neither a constitution-founding rupture nor a blank cheque for institutional reconstruction. It was a powerful but structured act of authorisation. The distinction matters because transitions succeed when authority is precisely interpreted and designated.
26 February 2026, 13:00 PM
We are neglecting cooking gas danger at our own peril
A faint gas smell is sometimes tolerated for hours. A regulator that hisses slightly is considered manageable. A minor spark in a switchboard is dismissed as routine. We are accustomed to improvisation in many aspects of life. Improvisation, however, is a poor strategy against combustible gases.
26 February 2026, 00:37 AM
Security should not be a pretext for moral policing or erosion of liberties
The recent incidents of assault and harassment by police officers are not merely a string of isolated incidents, but a signal about institutional health.
26 February 2026, 00:33 AM
Economic priorities the new government should focus on
The crises of persistent inflationary pressure, sluggish private investment, and unemployment needs to be dealt with simultaneously, with careful policy planning.
26 February 2026, 00:31 AM
What the transport minister’s words really revealed
What if the minister did not seek to legalise or sanitise extortion, but unintentionally described an informal system of governance that already operates alongside the formal state?
25 February 2026, 11:36 AM
Jahanara’s case and the accountability gap in athlete protection
Sport is often portrayed as a realm of discipline, merit, and national pride. Yet it is also shaped by sharp power imbalances—between administrators and athletes, coaches and players, and selectors and aspirants.
25 February 2026, 00:12 AM
Make ICT policy a priority, not a side show
In a fast-moving policy landscape, delay is often punished. By the time a state realises a law is unworkable, or that a regulatory approach has fallen behind, the world may have already moved on.
25 February 2026, 00:09 AM
Think twice before forcing a third language on school students
Beyond the economy, art education on a national level is vital for raising better citizens and improving our Human Development Index.
25 February 2026, 00:06 AM
Climate actions need less talk, more work
A lesson emerging from COP participation is that for advocacy to deliver results, it must be married to strategy.
25 February 2026, 00:00 AM
Deferring Bangladesh’s LDC graduation and the road ahead
In November last year, Bangladesh confirmed that it continued to meet all three LDC graduation criteria and remained on track for graduation in November 2026 despite economic shocks.
24 February 2026, 00:00 AM
Bangladesh’s renewables drive must include women
Women constitute only about 32 percent of the total global workforce in the renewable energy sector, with even lower representation in technical and decision-making positions.
24 February 2026, 00:00 AM
Rethinking the Bangladesh-US trade deal following the legal blow
The United States has virtually granted itself de facto control over Bangladesh’s economic relationships with the wider world. The agreement does, however, offer one significant benefit: Bangladeshi garments made with US cotton and man-made fibre would get zero tariffs in the US market.
24 February 2026, 00:00 AM
When extortion is sanitised, rights become negotiable
When a private citizen pays, it is often an act of compulsion within a broken system. When a public official justifies the payment, it becomes an institutional endorsement.
24 February 2026, 00:00 AM
Bangladesh’s foreign policy enters its post-election test
The recently held parliamentary election in Bangladesh was watched more closely than usual.
23 February 2026, 00:47 AM
Will the real poor get the benefits of the family card?
The social safety net or social protection programme enables the government to advance the well-being and security of citizens by protecting them from vulnerability and deprivation so they can pursue a better life.
23 February 2026, 00:43 AM
Tourism and roads won’t solve CHT’s deeper wounds
In July 2024, a student-led movement demanding quota reform evolved into the mass uprising against authoritarianism, bringing an end to over fifteen years of increasingly centralised and coercive rule.
23 February 2026, 00:36 AM
Army’s role during the polls and interim period merits a nod
Now that the dust has settled and we have begun another hopeful journey under a new government, we can look back at the interim government’s 18-month tenure and say with confidence that the defence forces,
23 February 2026, 00:30 AM
‘Modern-day slavery’ threatening our women migrants
The recent return of a 32‑year‑old Bangladeshi domestic worker from Saudi Arabia—six months pregnant after alleged rape, torture, and imprisonment—is not an isolated tragedy.
22 February 2026, 01:46 AM