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Nov 18, 2024 | 
thedailystar.net | Sushmita S. Preetha
Last week, the dismembered body of 36-year-old RMG worker Shantana Begum was recovered from a nursery in Savar. Her severed head and hands were found in a plastic bag in a nearby kindergarten. Police suspect that she was killed by her husband following a "family feud."It would be easy enough to dismiss this sensational crime as an isolated incident.
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Oct 7, 2024 | 
asianews.network | Sushmita S. Preetha
October 7, 2024 DHAKA – For the past three months, we’ve been living out a drama of epic proportions. We’ve felt the most thunderous highs to the most debilitating lows and every denomination of emotion in between—at times all in the span of a single day.
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Sep 3, 2024 | 
frontline.thehindu.com | Bantirani Patro |Bashir Ali Abbas |Sushmita S. Preetha |Rachita Taneja
Into his third term as Prime Minister, Narendra Modi continues to make much of his “Neighbourhood First” policy, but India’s public is not aware that it has been a debacle. The tendency of New Delhi commentators to hew close to the line set by North Block and South Block means India’s citizens do not get a correct reading of what is happening next door, nor the repeated faux pas of their government.
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Sep 3, 2024 | 
frontline.thehindu.com | C.P. Chandrasekhar |Vaishna Roy |Sushmita S. Preetha
Sheikh Hasina may have made a dramatic exit following the youth-led mass uprising on August 5, but the legacy of her 15-year autocratic rule will likely haunt Bangladesh for months—if not years—to come. Her fallen regime has left behind a flailing economy, institutions that have been hollowed out from inside, a culture of corruption at all levels, and an aggrieved populace who have been suppressed through various means over the years.
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Aug 26, 2024 | 
asianews.network | Sushmita S. Preetha
August 26, 2024 DHAKA – Flooding has taken a dire turn in the country within a very short time. Feni, in particular, has not faced such a critical situation in living memory. What’s the latest update from the ground? We are hearing the same thing on the ground. There has been flooding in Feni before, but never to such an extent. Feni locals are not used to such terrible flash floods, neither are government and non-government authorities.
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Jul 21, 2024 | 
thedailystar.net | Sushmita S. Preetha
The verdict is in. The Appellate Division through its observations has recommended that quotas be restricted to seven percent: five percent for freedom fighters' children, one percent for ethnic minorities, and one percent for people with disabilities. For all practical purposes, it is a win for the protesters. Or so it would have been, had the morgues not been brimming with dead bodies, hospitals inundated with those critically injured, and public establishments set on fire around the country.
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Mar 4, 2024 | 
thedailystar.net | Sushmita S. Preetha
Why do authorities gamble with our lives? I am not a morbid person, in general. But, increasingly, I find myself spending an unhealthy amount of time obsessing over what sort of a death awaits me in Dhaka. Will I die in a fire while shopping in my go-to kitchen markets or while having french fries with my toddler at a nearby cafe?
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Feb 10, 2024 | 
thedailystar.net | Sushmita S. Preetha
Geof Wood, emeritus professor of International Development at the University of Bath in the UK, talks to Sushmita S Preetha of The Daily Star about his latest book, Staying the Course: The Journey of a 'Bengal' Civilian, in which he explores the dilemmas of being an academic immersed in the processes of development and the intersection between policymaking and activism. How did you end up in Bangladesh, and how did it become a half a century long relationship?
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Feb 2, 2024 | 
thedailystar.net | Sushmita S. Preetha
We must come to terms with the reality that we live in a country where a woman seeking medical assistance at a One-Stop Crisis Centre, after allegedly being raped by an upazila chairman, can be "abducted" in broad daylight by a group of 10-12 men, in front of the media and human rights activists, with no repercussions at all.
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Jan 12, 2024 | 
thedailystar.net | Sushmita S. Preetha
UN Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Opinion and Expression Irene Khan speaks with Sushmita S Preetha of The Daily Star about the recent general election, shrinking space for dissent, and the pressing need to address human rights concerns in Bangladesh. How would you describe the election that was just held? The recent election showed democracy in deep distress in this country.
