Panorama's Best Stories 2022
We curated a list, in chornological order, of the best 15 Panorama stories produced by TBS Features team to take a look back and recap 2022
Here is a list of the 15 best Panorama stories in 2022.
07 February 2022
Should Bangladesh move its capital away from Dhaka?
Sheikh Rafi Ahmed
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On 18 January, the Indonesian parliament declared that it would be moving its capital from Jakarta to a new city called Nusantara on the island of Borneo. Jakarta is situated on the island of Java and currently hosts about 10.9 million people. The Java island alone hosts roughly 60% of the total population of Indonesia and more than half of its economic activities, despite Kalimantan being four times larger.
High population density, high risks of flooding, depleting groundwater, economic redistribution as well as Jakarta's long-term viability as capital were among some of the reasons cited by the parliament leading to this decision.
22 March 2022
Why are female workers disappearing from our RMG factories?
Promila Kanya
In the 1990s, the percentage of female workers in Bangladesh's Ready-Made Garment (RMG) was almost 90 percent. However, in the last 10 years or so, the figure has dropped down to less than 60 percent.
Over the last three decades, the export-oriented RMG sector, alongside the NGO movement, has played a pivotal role in increasing female employment, and as a result, ensuring female empowerment in the country.
25 March 2022
Of Kara, kirpan and kesh: The 500-year-old Sikh community of Bangladesh
Kamrun Naher
I entered the Gurdwara Nanak Shahi at the Dhaka University area looking for Taposh Lal Chowdhury, the manager of the Gurdwara Management Committee in Bangladesh. Within a few minutes, a young man came walking towards me and introduced himself.
Seeing a puzzled face, Taposh smiled and said, "Yes, I do not wear a pagri and kurta, I do not have long hair or beard and yet I am a Sikh."
29 March 2022
Free or exploited? The lives of platform-based gig workers
Masum Billah
Samiul Islam used to work long arduous hours under the supervision of an unpleasant boss in an ice cream factory. Samiul wished for his hectic life to change for the better.
"I had no freedom. My boss was rude. He would turn me down whenever I asked for leave or anything. Back then I wished I had a different job where I would have a little freedom," Samiul told The Business Standard.
17 April 2022
How impoverished women keep the Nakugaon Port alive
Sadiqur Rahman
For Zubeda, the day began with uncertainty.
As per usual, she arrived at the stone crushing field, adjacent to the Nakugaon Land Port at 5 am. At first, there was no work for her at the site she worked a few days back. After a couple of attempts, she struck a deal at another stone crushing site to work for the day.
The day labourers at the stone crushing sites in Nakugaon Port have, perhaps, the most fleeting sense of job security. They show up at the sites with pounding hearts, unsure about whether they will get work.
12 June 2022
Why does one of the fastest growing economies in the world have one of the weakest passports?
Nusmila Lohani
Recently, Bangladesh passport was ranked as the 9th weakest passport in the world in the Henley Index. It's not much of a surprise since we have consistently either moved up or down this index by only a few places over the last few years.
Henley Index's latest ranking placed the passport at 103rd position out of 116 positions. It is not quite easily understood what exactly the ranking means by itself for the passport holders. But one thing we know for certain is that Bangladesh passport has visa-free (or on-arrival visa) access to only 40 countries in the world, which is one of the primary parameters determining the ranking.
04 August 2022
Killing women for fun: How some Facebook gamers are inciting violence against women
Masum Billah
Golden Gaming YT, a Bangladeshi gaming page on Facebook, plays and streams Grand Theft Auto V (GTA) every day. Notorious for gratuitous violence, GTA has the opportunity for players to engage in graphic cruelty in the game, where they can bash, maim and kill anyone in its fantasy universe.
Golden Gaming YT's gameplays (screen recording of a game being played), which he broadcasts live to his audience on social media pages, feature a lot of this kind of violence. But in his case, the virtual victims are exclusively of one particular demographic: women. Specifically, women in shorts or western outfits. Voice-over commentary by the gamer confirms that style of clothing is the problem, it is an offence for which he attacks the virtual women.
06 September 2022
Sold in Cambodia: How Bangladeshis are lured into slavery
Masum Billah
After working for a couple of years in Rajbari as a data entry operator for the Election Commission (EC), Masum BellhA (sic) became unemployed when the contract was over.
Desperately in need of a job, he came to know through an agent that he could earn $1,000 per month from working as a data entry officer in Cambodia.
11 September 2022
The government has so far made more than 600 apps. How many actually work?
Ariful Islam Mithu
Did you know that BIWTA has an app?
I downloaded the application from Google Play on 30 August and was greeted by its familiar logo - a small yellow steamer inside a red circle.
The app claims to carry information about fares, routes and BIWTA's countrywide office locations. But when I clicked on it, all it said was 'loading, please wait.'
14 September 2022
From Bangabazar to Nigeria: How undocumented Nigerians set up an RMG export business
Sadiqur Rahman
Of a distinctive height, athletic physique and in clothes that mirror America's hip-hop culture, some shoppers at Bangabazar market turn heads and tend to stand out in the sea of local shoppers.
Shop attendants at the famous market in Dhaka make the distinction even clearer when they fondly call on the particular shoppers with "Hey bondhu. Aasho amar dokane," (Hi friend. Visit my shop). This is a trick to lure in those customers with swollen wallets.
16 September 2022
Lost in the Bay: SOS from seagoing artisanal fishers
Ashraful Haque
When we met Nargis Begum at her in-laws' home in Kochua upazila in Bagerhat district, she was at a loss for words. She did not even turn, instead kept staring out the window with blank eyes.
Nargis was waiting for her husband Hafijul Babna (30), a sea-going fisherman, who had gone missing in a tempest in the Bay of Bengal two days earlier. The year was 2015, Nargis was 25 years old and seven-month pregnant.
17 September 2022
Can yuan replace the 'mighty' dollar?
Sheikh Rafi Ahmed
Ever since the concept of an international reserve currency was introduced in the 1800s, primarily for ease and uniformity of transactions across borders, emerging economies have suffered, especially when said currency is appreciated. First, it was gold, then it was the pound-sterling and ever since WWII, it has been the US dollar.
Most recently, in the aftermath of the Covid-19 pandemic and the Russian invasion of Ukraine, developing countries like Bangladesh, Pakistan and Sri Lanka had been clobbered by high import payments and rising cost of debt servicing putting pressure on their foreign reserves.
02 October 2022
Truck drivers: The unsung heroes of the country's supply chain
Ariful Islam Mithu
It is early evening on a Wednesday at the Tejgaon Truck Stand in Dhaka.
The front of the Bangladesh Truck and Covered Van Drivers Union office is abuzz with transport companies agents, drivers and helpers. Some of them are playing ludu with smartphones resting on the seats of parked motorcycles.
Some are talking to their family members, some are negotiating prices for cargo transport over the phone. Behind the union office is the Tejgaon Truck Stand, which is full of parked trucks.
16 December 2022
A tale of two war babies
Promila Kanya
In September this year, Merina Begum, a destitute woman from Tarash, Sirajganj, appealed to the Ministry of Liberation War Affairs, seeking state recognition.
Who is Merina and why does she need to state recognition, you might ask.
18 December 2022
When art is not art anymore
Kamrun Naher
With a round, protruding stomach and greasy skin that glimmers in the sun, Abdul Hamid sits on the teak wood throne at his store in Savar every day. With rods, cement and tiles piled up at the back of his store, you can be forgiven for mistaking Abdul for a construction business owner at first glance.
But don't be fooled. Abdul is an art enthusiast. At least, that's what the front yard of his store tells us, with rows of concrete animal statues, including but not limited to tigers, lions, gorillas and monkeys, all awaiting a buyer.
