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BLOWIN' IN THE WIND

Shamsad Mortuza

BLOWIN' IN THE WIND

Dr Shamsad Mortuza is the vice-chancellor of the University of Liberal Arts Bangladesh (ULAB).

ED_1.jpg

The unfinished promise to Bangladesh’s women

14 March 2026, 02:15 AM
Given the election results, one could assume that the female voters have registered a clear electoral message. They do not want to retreat into the margins of civic life. And why should they?
14 March 2026, 02:15 AM
ED-1.jpg

When our indifference breaks our children

7 March 2026, 01:16 AM
The posthumous Swadhinata Padak for Maherin Chowdhury, a teacher who died saving at least 20 students from the burning remains of Milestone School and College after it was hit by a fighter jet last year, brought back sad memories of losing children and teachers in a single tragic blow.
7 March 2026, 01:16 AM
ED_1.jpg

Depoliticise institutions, not ideas

28 February 2026, 01:06 AM
Not often do you hear a politician saying that “politicising education, research, and the practice of arts and literature is never a mark of a civilised society.”
28 February 2026, 01:06 AM
ED_1__Ekushey_Boimela.jpg

What the scheduling fiasco of Ekushey book fair tells us

21 February 2026, 02:05 AM
Ekushey February (February 21) is a date that reminds the Bangladeshi people of their culture as well as their originary moments.
21 February 2026, 02:05 AM
ED1.jpg

V for Victory, V for Valentine: A mandate is not a licence

14 February 2026, 01:32 AM
It’s perhaps divine timing that V-Day falls just after the confirmation of election results, marked by the public’s overwhelming support for the party at the top and the strengthening of support bases for the parties in second place.
14 February 2026, 01:32 AM
ED1.jpg

Truth, power, and the strained relations between students and teachers

7 February 2026, 01:08 AM
When asked to comment on the recent trend of teacher harassment and forced resignation across university campuses, the University Grants Commission (UGC) chair and former vice-chancellor of Dhaka University, Prof SMA Faiz, observed that rules alone could not ensure healthy teacher-student ties.
7 February 2026, 01:08 AM
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Education needs decisive actions, not empty promises

31 January 2026, 06:44 AM
Bangladesh, by default, has designed inequality in education through its multiple streams.
31 January 2026, 06:44 AM
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How Bangladesh lost leverage in cricket diplomacy

24 January 2026, 04:26 AM
When the Fizz was pitched as a slingshot to hit back at the monstrous decision of the IPL that forced the Bangladeshi fast bowler’s franchise team to release him on security grounds,
24 January 2026, 04:26 AM
op_2.jpg

Ranking Realities : Bangladesh’s higher education strategy needs a redesign

For the cynics, the absence of any Bangladeshi university among the top 800 institutions recently ranked by Times Higher Education World University Rankings (THEWUR) 2025 is unacceptable.
12 October 2024, 05:00 AM
Bangladesh's struggle for unity

Education, identity and ideology: Bangladesh's struggle for unity

"The 2024 uprising as an opportunity to return to the original desires of the deprived and persecuted masses of 1971."
5 October 2024, 04:00 AM
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Shakib's final over: A hero’s farewell or a quiet exit?

Shakib has been at the heart of our national pride. He also has been someone who has hurt our feelings.
28 September 2024, 01:30 AM
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We must protect doctors from violence

Violence against doctors is an issue that is neither unique to our country nor recent.
21 September 2024, 04:00 AM
op_2.jpg

Mass wedding in academia: A new kind of ‘taboo-breaking’

An institutionalised mass wedding will replace one form of social regulation with another.
14 September 2024, 04:00 AM
The release of 57 Bangladeshi nationals who were sentenced to prison by a UAE court demonstrates the strength of the two countries' relations and the persuasive power of diplomatic negotiations. FILE PHOTO: REUTERS

Our migrant workers in UAE: Bound by borders, freed by conscience

The Washington Post recently speculated that Dr Yunus’s soft power may have indirectly influenced the UAE's decision to grant clemency.
7 September 2024, 04:00 AM
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When teachers become targets: Lessons from Emperor Alamgir

How do you process the nationwide humiliation of teachers?
31 August 2024, 02:35 AM
challenges of the current generation

The triumphs and challenges of a generation in flux

The students are once again at the forefront by reaching out to the victims of the flood that has inundated the country’s eastern region.
24 August 2024, 04:00 AM
op_2_student_anti_quota_movement_amran_hossain_16082024_b35c_sbs.jpg

Universities must prepare for the transition of students

While talking to our students, it was obvious that many of them are experiencing severe stress.
17 August 2024, 04:00 AM
The students of Bangladesh have spoken through their movement, giving us an opportunity to fix the systemic issues in our education system and pave the way for a more prosperous, equitable, and democratic future for the country. PHOTO: REUTERS

The power of education in ‘Bangla Bashanta'

Identity and ideology politics also played an essential role in brewing the Bangla Bashanta.
10 August 2024, 06:24 AM
Students in quota reform movement

The lives of fallen students must inspire the change we need

Reconciliation cannot occur without truth-telling, accountability, and a commitment to dismantling the structures of violence that perpetuate inequality and injustice.
3 August 2024, 02:00 AM
Our political leaders have failed to see that these young people fighting for their rights don’t want to be trapped in any identity binary. FILE PHOTO: ANISUR RAHMAN

A generation's fight in the shadows of quota

The movement was no longer about quotas; it was about justice.
27 July 2024, 04:00 AM
Highly educated people choosing blue-collar jobs abroad

Why are highly educated people choosing blue-collar jobs abroad?

Seeing our PhD holders choose menial jobs over research and innovation highlights a flaw in our educational policy.
13 July 2024, 02:00 AM
Students and job seekers have taken it to the streets, seeking an end to positive discrimination under the quota system that looms over half of government jobs. FILE PHOTO: ANISUR RAHMAN

Pension wars and quota protests: The manufactured divide

Polarisation, rife with mutual fear and rage, is on the rise. Something dark and sinister is occurring.
5 July 2024, 09:34 AM
Julian Assange-Breaking chains through whistleblowing

Breaking chains through whistleblowing

Why does it matter for us when a foreign individual is free after such a long time?
29 June 2024, 04:00 AM
begums-blunder-1.jpg

‘Begum’s Blunder’ shines in Wilde splendour

Begum’s Blunder is a clever adaptation of Oscar Wilde’s Lady Windermere’s Fan. The play transports the Victorian setting to the imaginary Behrampur, the heyday of the Nawabs in India. With Naila Azad Nupur’s direction, and Sadaf Saaz working her behind-the-scenes magic as the producer, the production by Kaleidoscope projects lights on the prism of Wilde’s 1892 play to find their contemporary refractions and reflections in colonial India.
26 June 2024, 18:00 PM
MP Anar, violence, corruption, people silhouette, meat,

A monologue on the beasts among us

As I stand before the heap of fresh meat, my thoughts turn to the slain politician who was hacked to death
22 June 2024, 04:00 AM
PhD in private universities in Bangladesh

P for Private, P for PhD

The UGC's decision to allow private universities to offer PhD programmes is a timely move.
15 June 2024, 04:00 AM
University rankings

Our love-hate relationship with university rankings

A prestigious ranking system naming Dhaka University as the top university in Bangladesh makes us revisit that love-hate stance.
8 June 2024, 02:08 AM
Rafah bombing May 2024

Spare us the hypocrisy

Moral policing by the West, when its own hypocrisy comes out through its actions controvening international law, one cannot help feeling bemused.
2 June 2024, 04:00 AM

Pagination

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