Blowin’ in the Wind
We must protect doctors from violence
Violence against doctors is an issue that is neither unique to our country nor recent.
Mass wedding in academia: A new kind of ‘taboo-breaking’
An institutionalised mass wedding will replace one form of social regulation with another.
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.
When teachers become targets: Lessons from Emperor Alamgir
How do you process the nationwide humiliation of teachers?
Opinion / 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.
Universities must prepare for the transition of students
While talking to our students, it was obvious that many of them are experiencing severe stress.
The power of education in ‘Bangla Bashanta'
Identity and ideology politics also played an essential role in brewing the Bangla Bashanta.
Quota violence / 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.
Our development and the middle-class dilemma
The planning minister recently used an onomatope—a word that imitates the things signified. He referred to the economic growth of the country with the sound image of “shonoi, shonoi,” which can be literally translated to “by and by.”
The Untranslatable Porosrikatorota
Is the Bangla word “porosrikatorota” really untranslatable? Does “envy” or “jealousy” fall short of denoting the condition of feeling down after seeing the success of others?
Our Shrunken Mentality
The sudden onrush of floodwater flowing into the country through the Teesta at a measured dangerous level—soon after the equally sudden disruption of peace and vandalism of temples and altars in different parts of the country—reminded me of the 1974 movie
Death is inevitable, but we must not get used to it
I wrote this short poem a long time ago, inspired by a cemetery headstone. I was ruminating over the plight of a man who had transformed into a corpse, then reduced to a sign marked by dates. In the eternal existence of mankind,
A momentary lapse of reason
Recently, while I was driving to my office, an SUV full of security men whooshed past me on the wrong side. I slowed down and let the car come to my lane near Ganabhaban.
The Rape of the Lock: A Mock Epic Revisited
“How do I cultivate freedom alongside discipline?” German philosopher Immanuel Kant asked in 1899. The question still remains valid in many sectors of life, especially in teaching.
Let’s not be the fox without a tail
You must have heard of the story of a fox who accidentally lost his tail to a trap, and later decreed that all foxes must lose their tails too.
With Covid, there’s no easing back into campus
It is as refreshing as watching flowers of urban forestry in bloom or the roadside plants glisten after a bout of rain.
9/11: The Turning Point
In September 2001, soon after the attack on the Twin Towers, the Bangladesh government issued a public announcement to contact the America & Pacific wing of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for the whereabouts of Bangladeshi residents.