The first day of the Bengal Delta Conference 2025 concluded on Friday at the Grand Ballroom of Hotel InterContinental in Dhaka.
This year, the two-day conference is being organised by the Dhaka Institute of Research and Analytics (DAIRA), with the theme "Bangladesh at Crossroads: Rethinking Politics, Economics, Geopolitical Strategy."
The programme began at 9:15am with the national anthem and a minute of silence in memory of the July martyrs, followed by the screening of a documentary on the July Uprising and Bangladesh's overall situation. The session was conducted by Shehrin Amin Bhuiya, assistant professor, Department of Public Administration, University of Dhaka.
Mushtaq Khan, professor at SOAS University of London, delivered the inaugural speech, while Foreign Affairs Adviser Mohammad Touhid Hossain attended as the chief guest.
Special guests included Malaysia's former education minister Mazlee bin Malik, Nepal's former water resources minister Dipak Gyawali, and Dhaka University Vice-Chancellor Niaz Ahmed Khan. Editors Siddharth Varadarajan of The Wire and Mahfuz Anam of The Daily Star were also present at the event.
Throughout the day, multiple panel discussions were held on political reform, economic strategies, media narratives, policy priorities, and the July Revolution.
Speakers included scholars from Bangladesh and abroad, such as Iftekhar Iqbal, Alex Taek-Gwang Lee, Irfan Ahmed, Asif Sahan, David Jackman, Tasnim Jara, Mahdi Amin, and Farhad Mazhar.
Mushtaq Khan delivered the keynote speech. He reflected on the struggles of students during the fascist regime and their renewed vigour after the uprising, welcoming DAIRA's initiative.
On politics in Bangladesh, he said: "Politics must be open. We must rethink the sources of political party funding."
According to him, the uprising has made it clear to politicians that returning to the old political settlement is impossible, since people will not accept it anymore.
The chief guest, Mohammad Touhid Hossain, Foreign Affairs Adviser of the Interim Government, highlighted the significance of the July Uprising in Bangladesh's political history.
He said, "The youth of Bangladesh will not allow the country to return to the pre-2024 political reality." He also touched on the Ukraine war, the genocide in Gaza, Israel-U.S.-Iran relations, and the global situation with U.S. tariffs.
Discussing education in countries like Bangladesh, he said: "Educational inequality is the most serious issue. Only a small group receives quality education, and this must be changed."
Mazlee bin Malik, former education minister of Malaysia, attended as a special guest.
He remarked that Bangladesh could become a beacon of hope for the Global South and praised the leadership of the current Chief Adviser, Muhammad Yunus.
Meanwhile, he emphasised the need for Bangladesh to shift towards a knowledge-based economy instead of relying on a labour-dependent one, and also highlighted the country's potential in a sea-centred economy.
Speaking on regional cooperation, he said, "Bangladesh will have ASEAN by its side in resolving the Rohingya crisis."
Another special guest, Dipak Gyawali, former Minister of Water Resources of Nepal, said, "Bangladesh's mass uprising is not just a milestone for the Delta, but for the entire South Asia."
However, he stressed that beyond democracy, good governance is also essential for the state.
Meanwhile, Niaz Ahmed Khan, vice-chancellor of Dhaka University, noted that academia has seen very little work on the Bengal Delta.
Also attending as special guests were two renowned media personalities, Siddharth Varadarajan, founder and editor of India's digital media platform The Wire, and Mahfuz Anam, editor of Bangladesh's English daily The Daily Star.
Varadarajan said, "The path Bangladesh is taking now has global implications. However, the country's biggest weakness is economic inequality."
Highlighting political turning points in the country's history, Mahfuz Anam said, "Bangladesh's main problem is that politicians use democracy only as a ladder to get into parliament."
The Dhaka Institute of Research and Analytics (DAIRA) is a Dhaka-based think tank dedicated to producing and advancing knowledge on the Bengal Delta. The organisation focuses on studying the socio-political, economic, and cultural dynamics of Bangladesh in both regional and global contexts.
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