Bangladeshi Academics’ Brief Window of Freedom May Be Closing Again
Nahid Neazy | 08 May 2026 | Times Higher Education
When students took to the streets of Dhaka in July 2024, they not only demanded the end of an autocratic regime; they also fought for the soul of Bangladesh’s universities.
Over the previous two decades, higher education had been reduced to a machine for partisan patronage. Public universities were turned into political fiefdoms: trophies for the winner of general elections. And the culture of fear that this instilled among academics was absolute.
Vice-chancellors functioned as district-level party bosses, and student wings acted as paramilitary enforcers in dormitories. Academic decline was a measurable by-product, as research output stagnated and the country’s institutions plummeted in global rankings….