Weekly Bangladesh Policy Outlook: Analysis, Truth, Debate.
Bangladesh, home to the world’s fourth-largest Muslim population, enforces some of the strictest alcohol controls in Asia. Its legal framework governing alcohol sale and consumption reflects a delicate balance between Islamic religious values, indigenous cultural traditions, and the practical demands of a modernising economy. Understanding how this framework operates and where it falls short is…
Bangladesh’s Child Marriage Restraint Act 2017 was designed to modernise a colonial era statute and curb one of the highest child marriage rates on earth. Instead, its controversial Section 19 special provision has become the focal point of sustained domestic and international criticism, raising questions about whether the reform moved the country forward or backward….
Read More “Bangladesh’s Child Marriage Restraint Act 2017: Did we pay attention?” »
Bangladesh’s Penal Code of 1860 retains a colonial-era provision on adultery that is increasingly difficult to reconcile with the country’s constitutional commitments to equality and non-discrimination. Section 497, as it currently stands, not only fails to protect the very individuals it claims to serve but actively perpetuates gender-based legal inequality with far-reaching social consequences. The…
Prime Minister Tarique Rahman’s directive to prepare an action plan for increasing Bangladesh’s carbon credits represents a significant policy shift that aligns the country’s climate strategy with the emerging global carbon market. The announcement, made at a climate change meeting at the Secretariat, touches on both the considerable promise and the practical difficulties that lie…
Read More “On PM’s directive on action plan on Carbon Credits” »
The Bangladesh-India border has once again become a site of significant violence. On May 14, 2026, Khademul Haque, aged 25, was fatally shot by the Indian Border Security Force at the Amjhol border in Lalmonirhat. In the days leading up to the incident, two Bangladeshi citizens were killed and several others sustained injuries in a…
The Bangladesh Labour Act recently underwent extensive legislative reform through amendments initially enacted by Presidential Ordinance on 17 November 2025 and later approved by Parliament on 10 April 2026, resulting in significant revisions to the country’s labour law regime through Bangladesh Labour (Amendment) Act, 2026. The recent amendments mark one of the most extensive labour…
From my professional perspective as a British barrister of Bangladeshi origin, parliamentary conduct is not merely a question of etiquette or ceremony. It is closely connected to constitutional governance, democratic accountability and public confidence in representative institutions. The Jatiya Sangsad occupies the central legislative position in Bangladesh. Its effectiveness therefore depends not only on the…
Read More “Parliamentary Conduct and Constitutional Responsibility” »
Between August 2024 and September 2025, a period of just thirteen months, at least 220 people were killed by mob violence across Bangladesh. That figure translates to approximately seventeen deaths every month at the hands of vigilante crowds. These are not statistics abstracted from human experience. They represent men beaten to death on university campuses,…
Read More “The Social Consequences of Mob Violence in the name of Justice in Bangladesh” »
Quamrun Nahar Mahmud Advocate, Supreme Court of Bangladesh Impacts on Human Rights and Press Freedom The Act’s scope for misuse alarms rights advocates. Key free-expression offenses (e.g. insulting religious sentiments, defamation) remain criminalized. As a result, the new law still “silences critical voices,” according to press freedom groups. Already, rights organizations have observed a divide…
Read More “Bangladesh’s Cyber Security Act 2026: A Critical Analysis – Part: Two” »
Naima Onamika Commissioning Editor, The Oniket Bulletin The indigenous peoples of Bangladesh form an essential part of the country’s history, culture, and social diversity. More than fifty indigenous communities, including the Chakma, Marma, Tripura, Garo, Santal, and Mro, together represent a population of several million. Although these communities are spread across the Chittagong Hill Tracts,…
