We must carry Shahed’s fight against corruption forward
5 September 2026
There are reasons to be both sad and hopeful about Shahed Sharif Ahmed.
5 September 2026
Nine years on, the Rohingya still don't have a safe road home
29 August 2026
August 25 was observed as the “Ninth Anniversary of Rohingya Genocide Day” in the camps of Cox’s Bazar in Bangladesh.
29 August 2026
Personal preferences should not become public restrictions
22 August 2026
Death could not seal the controversies for Jason Arday.
22 August 2026
Research should be about pursuing knowledge, not publication numbers
15 August 2026
Earlier this month, a national daily reported that at least 325 academic papers published by Bangladeshi researchers in international journals published between 2019 and 2026 had been retracted due to various irregularities, including plagiarism.
15 August 2026
The fine line between moral courage and entitlement
8 August 2026
It is unfortunate that we are seeing a culture where moral power is exercised arbitrarily, where accusation precedes evidence and power precedes procedure.
8 August 2026
When waiting in line for subsidised food turns deadly
1 August 2026
Because they could not step away from death, death stepped in for them (apologies to Emily Dickinson)
1 August 2026
Before Bangladesh adds a third language, it needs the right language policy
25 July 2026
Last month, the prime minister told parliament that his government was planning to introduce courses on a third language from Class 6.
25 July 2026
What the protest by HSC candidates tells us
18 July 2026
There is a danger of reducing the protest surrounding this year’s Higher Secondary Certificate (HSC) and equivalent examinations to youthful resentment.
18 July 2026
University ranking announcement and the morning after
The oldest private university in Bangladesh is giving its oldest public university a run for its money.
14 October 2022
Is it too easy to become a professor in Bangladesh?
The academic rank diagram needs to look like a pyramid where few professors are located at the apex.
7 October 2022
To kill a mocking monster
What prompted those devoted pilgrims in Panchagarh to ride an overcrowded boat and join a death march on the Korotoa River?
30 September 2022
Is it Destination Death for our migrant workers?
Five hundred deaths a month. Is that natural?
23 September 2022
The government’s search for a columnist
There is nothing wrong with such a strategy of recruiting media operatives. However, the open nature of the search robs the ploy of its X-factor and thereby self-sabotages its purpose.
16 September 2022
Leave private universities out of BCL politics
The private universities are doing just fine without the presence of partisan politics.
9 September 2022
Plagiarism: A menace in the academic world
Our universities were mostly designed as teaching universities. Even many of our iconic professors are not good researchers.
2 September 2022
Suicide prevention must embrace nuances and complexities
Suicide is a complex issue that requires institutionalised, therapeutic interventions to save lives, and stand by those who need support for their mental health condition.
26 August 2022
The real worth of a cup of tea
Tea is a sector that requires time and patience. The problem with our new entrepreneurs is that they all want instant yields.
19 August 2022
The personal is political
Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman was murdered 47 years ago.
14 August 2022
Bangladesh's collapse in Zimbabwe: Woe of the Tigers
The recent results in Zimbabwe have shown that Bangladesh did not do any homework on their young opponents.
13 August 2022
Why the mismatch between what we study and what we do?
There is no serious study on the kind of jobs that are out there and the kind of degrees or training that we are providing in our academic institutions.
6 August 2022
The cooling conundrum
One of the first 'culprits' of energy leakage identified during the first week of the government’s austerity drive was air conditioners.
29 July 2022
Bangladesh Railway and the political dynamite
Dhaka University student Mohiuddin Roni has been staging a remarkable protest ever since he fell victim to the irregularities of Bangladesh Railway.
22 July 2022
The fault in our star-gazing: Do we care about teachers?
The beating of the principal is symptomatic of a time when teachers have lost their “value” in the system.
15 July 2022
A sobering call for austerity
In a rare public call, our prime minister has asked us all to maintain austerity.
8 July 2022
In search of lost respect
The recent spate of attacks on teachers by individual students or certain groups make many of us revisit the very notion of respect for teachers.
1 July 2022
Will Terminal 3 be everything we want it to be?
One of my favourite films, Love Actually (2003), begins with the narrative voice of “the British prime minister” (Hugh Grant) saying, “Whenever I get gloomy with the state of the world, I think about the arrivals gate at Heathrow Airport.
17 June 2022
If you pay peanuts, you get monkeys
The allocation for education in the proposed budget for FY2022-23 leaves a lot to be desired.
10 June 2022
Heard words are worthy, those unheard are bitter
The creator of the Harry Potter series, JK Rowling, is probably the richest author in the world, with an estimated net worth of USD 1 billion. In one estimate, Rowling made USD 181 per minute or USD 4.37 per word in 2016-17.
3 June 2022