Zyma Islam

Dhaka

Journalist at The Daily Star (Bangladesh)

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Articles

2 years lost, life shattered

1 week ago | thedailystar.net | Zyma Islam

He was around 15 when he was picked up, a ninth grader. When he was returned two years later, his fingernails and toenails had been pulled out and he had lost his mind. The boy only foamed at the mouth and laughed. The second interim report of the Commission of Inquiry on Enforced Disappearances narrates the chilling tale of a teenage boy, and the story of how they found him.
Enforced disappearance: Anti-terror law abused most to try victims

1 week ago | thedailystar.net | Zyma Islam

The fallen Sheikh Hasina government abused the Anti-Terrorism Act, 2009 as the most common tool to prosecute victims of enforced disappearance, found the Commission investigating enforced disappearances. "As in the rest of the world, terrorism is a genuine threat to Bangladesh, which must be addressed with analytical clarity and institutional resolve.
Enforced disappearances: Commission finds 16 secret detention centres

3 weeks ago | thedailystar.net | Zyma Islam

The Commission of Inquiry on Enforced Disappearances has found 16 secret detention centres across the country so far. The centres were found in Dhaka, Chattogram (near Patenga), Narayanganj, Rajshahi, Bogura, Barisal, Jhalakathi and Narsingdi, among others. However, this list is not exhaustive -- the Commission is yet to search for detention centres in Sylhet and Khulna. Commission member Sazzad Hussain confirmed the number to this newspaper.
Budget targets ex-citizens’ laundered assets

3 weeks ago | thedailystar.net | Zyma Islam

One of the main targets of this government is the recovery of stolen assets, or assets that have been pilfered abroad through capital flight. Investigations by the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) into capital flight have uncovered the use of citizenships from other countries, often referred to as golden passports, to transfer and stash wealth abroad.
The story of Hamid’s exit

1 month ago | thedailystar.net | Zyma Islam

Further details regarding the exit of former president Mohammed Abdul Hamid suggest he breezed through the airport before quietly departing for Thailand. Security footage obtained and analysed by The Daily Star shows that Hamid's car reached the barrier gate of the VIP terminal at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport (HSIA) at 12:46am on May 8.
Pilots faked flying records

1 month ago | thedailystar.net | Zyma Islam

One pilot flew only half the hours required to be certified. Another signed off on his own Airline Transport Pilot Licence—the highest level of aviation certification. A third falsified flight records, while a fourth became a "check pilot" for an aircraft he had never flown. The paper trail shows that the Civil Aviation Authority of Bangladesh (CAAB) has long been aware of all this, yet all four individuals still retain their pilot licences.
Regulator repeatedly ignored red flags

1 month ago | thedailystar.net | Zyma Islam

CAAB’s own inquiry finds irregularities by training academies, raising questions about aviation safety Time after time, the internal safety department of the Civil Aviation Authority of Bangladesh uncovered irregularities in pilot licencing and raised concerns about aviation safety, only to be overridden by the civil aviation's higher authorities.
Waiver that stole justice

1 month ago | thedailystar.net | Zyma Islam

Family of Shapla Chattar victim silenced by intimidation for 12yrs "They made us sign a waiver stating that we would never file any case before they handed over my brother's body."This is how Faria Soroni Vasha, a college student at the time, recalls her encounter with police when she went to the morgue to claim the body of her brother after he was killed at Shapla Chattar in the capital's Motijheel on this very day, 12 years ago.
How our media got politicised

2 months ago | thedailystar.net | Zyma Islam

Media Reform Commission report details 15 years of censorship and cronyism How did our media get to a place where censorship is rampant and media organisations pander to political parties? The Media Reform Commission found a key reason: 30 years of free passes to political allies to establish media organisations with dubious sources of funding.
Transport sector: Old faces gone but not extortion

Mar 8, 2025 | thedailystar.net | Partha Pratim Bhattacharjee |Zyma Islam

Finds govt probe; sector now controlled mostly by BNP-linked influentials A staggering Tk 2.21 crore is extorted daily from 53 transport terminals and stands in Dhaka city. The figure goes up to Tk 66.3 crore and sometimes Tk 80 crore per month, a government probe has found.