Dhaka, Feb 1 (IANS) As Bangladesh is set to hold elections on February 12, the interim government led by chief adviser Muhammad Yunus is, in effect, an election-time administration in terms of responsibility and mandate, with many believing that its activities should remain restricted to making preparations for the elections and conducting routine work. However, a series of decisions, initiatives, appointments, and contracts it announced have raised questions, as per a report. The include the fo…
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Dhaka, Jan 29 (IANS) As campaigning for Bangladesh’s February 12 election got underway, certain political parties are openly claiming that voting against them would be equivalent to voting against Islam — a common pattern used to brand opponents as “anti-religion,” when political legitimacy is questioned, a report said on Thursday. It added that across Bangladesh, music education is being banned on religious grounds, while shrines are attacked, theatre faces threats, and textbooks are ar…
Dhaka, Jan 29 (IANS) Under Bangladesh’s interim government led by Muhammad Yunus — globally recognised for pioneering microfinance for advancing women’s empowerment — the political representation of women in the country has not been institutionally safeguarded, a report said on Thursday. It added that, notwithstanding its reformist mandate, the interim government has not intervened decisively to safeguard or expand women’s presence in political decision-making, and this inaction risks …
Dhaka, Jan 28 (IANS) Although Bangladesh’s radical Islamist party Jamaat-e-Islami signals when convenient that it will not implement Shariah if it comes to power, its leaders, including candidates for the February 12 general elections–openly advocate establishing Shariah law on television talk shows. Similarly, at the grassroots level, mid, lower-tier leaders and workers promote voting for the Jamaat electoral symbol ‘daripalla’ (balance scale) symbol as a religious duty, while some even presen…
Dhaka, Jan 28 (IANS) As the law and order situation in Bangladesh continues to deteriorate, experts warned that patronage from the Muhammad Yunus-led interim government is inciting organised mobs in the country, local media reported.The remarks were made during a dialogue organised by the Centre for Governance Studies (CGS) titled ‘Media Reform in Bangladesh: Between Freedom, Responsibility and Power’, on Tuesday, which brought together senior journalists, editors, academics, political leaders, …
Dhaka, Jan 22 (IANS) Bangladesh’s interim government led by Muhammad Yunus has committed its most “disgraceful act” by permitting the use of anti-terror laws to arrest journalists across the country, resulting in pre-trial detention for months on “extraordinary”, often “outlandish charges”, including murder, a report highlighted on Thursday. Citing an independent New Delhi-based think tank, Rights and Risks Analysis Group, it said that by December 2025, the Yunus-led interim government had tar…
New Delhi, Jan 21 (IANS) The debate over Bangladesh achieving a trillion‑dollar economy by 2034 has moved from party manifestos into national conversation and online trolling, even as some economists have claimed the target may perhaps be achievable, said a media report published Wednesday. Under the right mix of policy, investment and institutional reform, Bangladesh could reach a much larger economy within a decade, but only if growth, revenue mobilisation and structural change accelerate sh…
Dhaka, Jan 20 (IANS) Bangladesh’s political landscape remains predominantly male-dominated, reflecting a patriarchal society that discourages female participation in the political structure of the country, resulting in low representation of women across political parties at all levels, a report said on Tuesday. Writing for leading Bangladeshi daily Prothom Alo, Selim Jahan, former Director of the Human Development Report Office (HDRO) at the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), cited m…
Dhaka, Jan 20 (IANS) Bangladesh witnessed a sharp rise in crime incidents in 2025, with police data showing a significant increase in cases of theft, robbery, mugging, banditry and kidnapping across the country, local media reported on Tuesday.Citing data from the Bangladesh Police website, the country’s leading Bengali daily Prothom Alo reported that 1,935 robbery cases were recorded nationwide in 2025, marking a 37 per cent rise from 2024.The data recorded 702 cases of robbery last year, a 4…
New Delhi, Jan 14 (IANS) A Rs. 50-crore project undertaken by the now-deposed Sheikh Hasina government to preserve the history of Bangladesh’s Liberation War of 1971, which included video interviews of about 15,000 participants, will be shelved now, said reports.Dhaka’s current administration has no plans to preserve the interviews, and the agency working on the project will not be paid, according to a report in Bangladesh’s prominent newspaper Prothom Alo on Wednesday.Officials told the n…