ELCOP organises 1st Prof Shah Alam Special Essay Competition 2021

Empowerment through Law of the Common People (ELCOP) organised an essay competition titled "Prof Shah Alam Special Essay Competition 2021" on the occasion of the 1st death anniversary of renowned Professor of Law and former Chairman of Bangladesh Law Commision, Dr. M Shah Alam to strengthen the  research ability of the law students across universities.

The overarching topic  was "Constitutional Resilience and Bangladesh".. It was open for the students of Law and Political Science from any Bangladeshi University and for any Bangladeshi citizens studying law and political science outside the country. An encouraging number of responses had been received.

The primary selection panel comprising of  Dr S M Masum Billah, Associate Professor of Jagannath University and Director of Human Rights Summer School;  Tapos Kumar Das, Associate Professor of Law, Jahangirnagar University;  Iftekhar Mahmud, Assistant Professor of Law, Eastern University and Barrister Tapos Kanti Baul, the Executive Director of ELCOP, recommended 6 essays out of 31 for the Jury Board. The 6 shortlisted candidates were Anamika Modok from East West University,  Md Irfanul Islam from Chittagong Independent University, Muhammad Sajid Hasan from Jagannath University, Suraiya Tarannum Susan fromUniversity of Chittagong, Jahidul Islam Oyon from Jahangirnagar University and Sumaia Sultana Emu from University of Chittagong.

These 6 shortlisted candidates appeared before the Jury Board consisting of Emeritus Professor M Rafiqul Islam, Macquarie University, Australia; Professor Kevin YL Tan, Adjunct Professor, National University Singapore and Editor-in Chief, Asian Journal of Comparative Law; Professor Mizanur Rahman, former Professor of Law, University of Dhaka and formerChairman of the National Human Rights Commission of Bangladesh; and Professor Ridwanul Hoque, IASH-Alwaleed Research Fellow at the University of Edinburgh, University Fellow, Northern Institute, Charles Darwin University, Australia; and Professor, Department of Law, University of Dhaka to defend their claims in the essays on  August 25 2021.

The Board picked up the best three essays among the 6 for the Professor Shah Alam Essay Award 2021. The award giving ceremony was held on  August 31 2021 on virtual platform. All the contestants, law teachers, law students, well wishers of ELCOP, Professor Alam's students participated in the award giving ceremony.

Dr. S M Masum Billah made opening remarks in the session. Professor Ridwanul Hoque talked about Professor Alam's teachings and vission. He also pointed out various shortcomings of the essays and asked the participants to work on this. Professor Dr. Mizanur Rahman graced the programme with his presence as the chief guest and declared the name of awardees from among the shortlisted participants.

Muhammad Sajid Hasan from Jagannath University bagged the 1st prize and Md Irfanul Islam from Chittagong Independent University and Anamika Modok from East West University  obtained 2nd and 3rd prizes respectively. Barrister Tapas Kanti Baul, concluded the ceremony with appreciation to all the participants and the members behind the programme for making it a successful one.

Event covered by Anamika Modok, student of Law, East West University and one of the awardees at the competition.