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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_Plagiarism_in_academia.jpg

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325 academic papers published by Bangladeshi researchers in international journals published between 2019 and 2026 had been retracted due to various irregularities, including plagiarism.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
ED_1__Moral_.jpg

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
ED-1.jpg

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
OP_1__Third_language.jpg

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
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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
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Bangladesh must hold its own amid changing geopolitics

11 July 2026
The performative presence of two superpowers in the precincts of Bangladesh’s national parliament has added some twists in the country’s political plot.
11 July 2026
ED_1__Empty_benches.jpg

Half a million HSC dropouts signal a silent crisis

4 July 2026
Two text messages appeared on my phone on Thursday evening as I came out of cinema after watching Tan Siyou’s Amoeba, a Singaporean film about teenage girls suffocating within an extremely controlled system.
4 July 2026
Op_1.jpg

The institutional push behind academic brain drain

28 June 2026
As someone who had the opportunity to stay back after completing further studies, I feel that portraying the issue of non-returning academics as a crisis of individual morality, rather than reflecting on the lack of institutional incentives that allow Bangladeshi scholars to opt for a different destiny, only tells half of the story.
28 June 2026
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
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
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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
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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
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
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
aa50biplob_chakroborty_for_ed_1_30082024_12f4_tam.jpg

When teachers become targets: Lessons from Emperor Alamgir

How do you process the nationwide humiliation of teachers?
31 August 2024
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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

Pagination

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