DU Law Faculty holds open discussion on ‘University and State’
On October 31, 2018, the fourth edition of the Law Faculty Open Discussion, titled ‘University and State’ was organised by the Faculty of Law, University of Dhaka (DU). Dr. Mohammad Azam, Associate Professor, Department of Bengali, DU graced the event as the Keynote Speaker while Professor Dr. Md. Rahmat Ullah, Dean, Faculty of Law, DU was present as the Guest of Honor.
At the onset, Mr. Syed Masud Reza, Assistant Professor of Law, DU, welcomed everyone to the event and introduced Dr. Mohammad Azam. Dr. Mohammad Azam began by giving an outline of his speech. He at first explained his understanding of state and university to the audience. According to him, states are comprised of the struggles and interests of multiple communities while universities are conservative, rigid institutions that are detached from the public sentiments. However, he propounded that despite being two entirely different entities, state and university could still be thought of together. Dr. Azam then pointed out the similarities present between these two institutions in two aspects, viz. the existence of objectivity and the abundance of discourse.
In the later part of his address, the speaker delved more into the relationship between state and university and cited the examples of Calcutta University and Jawaharlal Nehru University of India as well as Yunnan University of China. He commented that these universities were serving the purposes of the state by working together and fulfilling the state’s mandates. Dr. Azam also recommended A. P. J. Abul Kalam’s Wings of Fire to the audience for better understanding of the relationship between state and university and how the relationship could be strong and effective. In conclusion, he suggested that now is the time for us to ponder over the possibilities of conjoint efforts of the state and university to further our state’s mandates. To do so, he added that institutional reconstructions of both the state and the university are essential. Dr. Azam submitted that if we are able to accomplish this, Bangladesh will go on to flourish as a state and our universities will finally transform into ‘universities’ in the truest sense.
Afterward, Dr. Md. Rahmat Ullah presented a token of appreciation to Dr. Azam on behalf of the Faculty of Law. Dr. Rahmat Ullah thanked Dr. Azam for such an insightful speech and expressed the desire to host further open discussions on multidisciplinary issues in the upcoming days. Mr. Masud Reza then delivered his vote of thanks to the participants and concluded the event.
Event covered by Ali Mashraf, student of law at University of Dhaka.
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