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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).

Cox’s Bazar Tourism Problems

Cox’s Bazar at the crossroads of beauty without design

18 April 2026, 11:00 AM
Nobody questions the potential of Cox’s Bazar. Clearly, it can compete with any of the top-class beaches elsewhere. For that, the administrators need to think beyond immediate, narrow interests. They need to plan access roads despite local pressures.
18 April 2026, 11:00 AM
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Blended learning in an energy crisis: Innovation or institutional amnesia?

11 April 2026, 08:00 AM
“My classroom has four ceiling fans, but if we are to attend online classes from home, we will need 50 fans.”
11 April 2026, 08:00 AM
Long_queues_ED_1.jpg

Austerity and the crisis of fuel, confidence and coordination

4 April 2026, 09:00 AM
Last week, while buying vegetables from an open market, I could not help feeling dissatisfied over the hiked price of every item. “It seems you are still in a moon-sighting mode,” I said, to which the seller responded nonchalantly, “What can I do?
4 April 2026, 09:00 AM
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The surcharge of Eid-time tragedies

28 March 2026, 08:00 AM
In Samuel Beckett’s play Waiting for Godot, a character with supposed authority intensifies the absurdity by quantifying emotion.
28 March 2026, 08:00 AM
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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
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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
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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
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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
Dhaka University Bose-Einstein legacy

Meeting of minds: How Dhaka University became a part of Bose-Einstein legacy

There are lessons to be learnt from the way Dhaka became part of the intellectual map of the world.
9 November 2024, 04:00 AM
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Jack and the Beanstalk revisited

We laugh, but deep down, there is a hidden admiration and approval for such deception. Is there any connection between our folkloric fascination with trickery and our public endorsement of such behaviour by our leaders?
2 November 2024, 02:00 AM
Dhaka University affiliation crisis

Seven colleges, one crisis: Dhaka University’s affiliation nightmare

Disenchanted students are now demanding the creation of a “Dhaka Central University” comprising the seven colleges.
26 October 2024, 02:00 AM
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From classroom to martyrdom: A tribute to the fallen HSC examinees

These martyred students achieved more in the years that they lived than many of us would do in decades.
19 October 2024, 05:00 AM
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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
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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
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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

Pagination

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