In politics, timing is rarely accidental. In journalism, it is often revealing. Aleya Sheikh’s sudden emergence as a prolific commentator on Bangladesh’s internal politics—almost entirely after Sheikh Hasina’s fall and almost exclusively through a single outlet—raises questions that deserve scrutiny, not silence.

Let’s begin with what is publicly known. Aleya Sheikh describes herself as a journalist specializing in environment and community affairs in Asia. It is a respectable beat. Environmental reporting requires rigor, patience, and local knowledge. Community affairs demand trust-building and fieldwork. Yet her recent output is neither environmental nor community-based. It is intensely political. Narrowly so. And strikingly aligned with the public narrative of one individual: Sajeeb Wazed Joy.

That divergence alone is not a crime. Journalists evolve. Beats change. But credibility depends on transparency and proportionality. When a writer pivots sharply from environmental issues to high-stakes political polemics—without prior record, institutional backing, or methodological disclosure—the burden of proof shifts. Readers are entitled to ask: Why now? Why this subject? And why this framing?

The “why now” question is unavoidable. Aleya Sheikh’s political writing appears after Sheikh Hasina’s fall, not before. She was absent during the years when authoritarian excesses, enforced disappearances, media suppression, and electoral controversies were most acute.........

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