Women's safety and reforms in the education system by ensuring more widespread literacy and innovative teaching practices are necessary in the next fifty years of the country, said students at a roundtable on Wednesday.

The roundtable was part of the 7th Inter-University Student Conference and Cultural Competition organised on December 29 and 30 by Department of English and Humanities of University of Liberal Arts Bangladesh (ULAB).

This year, to celebrate 50 years of the nation's independence, the department chose the theme "Fifty Years of Bangladesh's Independence: Language, Literature, and Culture". Students from 18 public and private universities took part in the two-day event.

The first day included an academic paper presentation contest, participated by 22 students from different universities, and judged by Prof Razia Sultana Khan of English at Independent University Bangladesh, and Rabita Rahman, lecturer of Institute of Modern Languages of Jagannath University. 

Drawing attention to the sidelining of women's voices in literature of the Liberation War, which -- she points out -- is dominated by male writers, Brac University participant Maimuna Shafiqul Islam said, "Rape wasn't the only sacrifice women made during the war. They felt fear and uncertainty, and faced a myriad of other tragedies as well."

The second and last day hosted cultural performances held at Shilpakala Academy, where students from eight participating universities put up theatre performances following the theme of the conference.

The discussion was moderated by Sarah Anjum Bari, editor of Daily Star Books and adjunct lecturer of English and humanities at ULAB.