For a country like Iran, whose history has been shaped by repeated colonial intervention, recognizing a decolonial path that considers non-capitalist alternatives would be a meaningful step.
Selling Hope and Sustaining Horror: The Iranian Dream Read More »
In India, access to welfare benefits is increasingly being entangled with extensive documentation, household profiling, and citizenship-related verification, which is disproportionately affecting minorities and redefining the meaning of democracy.
Annapurna Bhandar and Its Politics of Discontents Read More »
The arrival of the Cockroach Janta Party in India has exposed the exhaustion of respectable civil society as the only authorised grammar of democratic grievance.
The real test for Bengal is not whether Muslims find a party to vote for but whether Bengal can still imagine Muslims as co-authors of its political future.
The Muslim Question and the New Political Order in Bengal Read More »
In Bangladesh, pluralism is under threat. Rescuing it will require not reimagining it not as a fragile arrangement of competing identities, but as an expression of a deeper interconnectedness.
The Inner Republic: Reimagining a New Bangladesh through the Wisdom of the Upanishads Read More »
Bangladesh’s political trajectory has been shaped by leaders driven by the consolidation of power and the persistence of dynastic politics. The ruling party, the BNP, embodies this tradition.
Reflecting on the BNP’s Chequered History in the Aftermath of the 2026 Election Read More »
A civil-society-led government like the interim one could never have provided a lasting solution to the challenges Bangladesh faces, nor could it have fully controlled the turbulent situation. Bangladesh’s problems must be solved politically—through political parties and a political society.
Limited Mandate, Infinite Expectations: Assessing Bangladesh’s Interim Chapter Read More »
The success of uprisings depends less on the intensity of dissent and more on whether political systems remain open, contested, and capable of absorbing change.
From Uprising to Institution: Why Nepal Could Where Bangladesh Couldn’t Read More »
In Bangladesh, a deeper transformation of the cultural and moral landscape, a slow recalibration of the values that shape how people imagine community, belonging, and the boundaries of the nation itself is afoot, threatening the country’s democratic future.
Democracy cannot be reduced to a moment. It has to become a practice. One that is reflected in institutions, in policies, and in everyday interactions. When I sit down to write this, I am carrying a grief that feels both deeply personal and painfully political. I lost one of my closest friends in a
Bangladesh: Democratic Transition Still Feels Hopeless Read More »
A democracy measured only through elections, party transition, or institutional reform will fail to account for those whose lives are regulated before they ever enter formal politics.
Forever Becoming, Forever Criminalized Read More »
