Beneath the headlines about Bangladesh’s 2026 election, a quieter story is happening in towns and villages. Thousands of grassroots political activists, who used to be the heart of both community-level and national politics, are now facing arrests, legal issues, or being silenced after the Bangladesh Awami League faced a ‘temporary suspension’ a...
Throughout world history, there have been many wars of independence. In some places they emerged through revolutions, in others through civil wars, and elsewhere through long and bloody conflicts. But the story of the Bengali people’s independence is different. This war did not begin suddenly. Behind it lay the long-term vision of a lea...
In March 1971, political negotiations between the Awami League and Pakistan’s military regime collapsed as tensions reached a breaking point. After his historic 7 March speech, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman signalled resistance. Days later, the Pakistan Army launched “Operation Searchlight,” triggering a brutal crackdown in Dhaka. Before his arrest, ...
When Bangladesh underwent political transition on 5 August 2024, journalists were on the streets documenting protests, clashes and uncertainty. Months later, many found themselves not just reporting the news - but becoming part of it. Since that date, a sharp rise in criminal cases, arrests, intimidation and physical attacks against journalis...
Under the Awami League, Bangladesh experienced strong GDP growth of 6–7%, rising exports, expanding infrastructure, and declining poverty. Although public borrowing increased, rapid economic growth helped sustain it and masked structural weaknesses such as low tax collection and banking fragility. Today, growth has slowed and fiscal pressure ...