A new teachers' organization called University Teachers Link (UTL) has been launched, aiming to protect the dignity of faculty members from both public and private universities across the country while claiming to carry the spirit of the July 2024 mass uprising.
An inaugural ceremony was held on Saturday, around 11am, at the TSC cafeteria of Dhaka University.
Under the theme "Knowledge, Faith, Self-Dignity, and Freedom," the organization's leadership said that their primary objective is to advance education, research, self-respect, freedom of thought, and national responsibility by breaking free from the culture of political allegiance.
During the launch event, a central convening committee was announced comprising teachers from public and private universities nationwide, with Md Ataur Rahman Biswas, chairman of the Department of Islamic History & Culture at Dhaka University, as convener, and Dr Mohammad Bilal Hossain, associate professor in the Department of History at Jagannath University, as member secretary.
In his written statement, Dr Mohammad Bilal Hossain said that the revolutionary aspirations born in the aftermath of the student-mass uprising of July 2024 have created a new awakening in Bangladesh's national consciousness.
"This revolution is reconstructing the political and ideological perspectives of the Bangladeshi people," he added.
He noted that in this context, they felt a pressing need for a teachers' organization capable of protecting teachers' dignity, ensuring academic integrity, safe campuses and educational environments, achieving excellence in research, and contributing to national development through constructive engagement and policy-making.
"UTL is a national platform for teachers born from this very necessity," he further added.
Calling upon teachers, it was said that UTL is not merely a platform—it is indeed a movement. For those teachers who believe that educators are the guiding lights in fulfilling the nation's higher aspirations and that education can lead society toward justice, knowledge, and morality, UTL is their platform.
He also said: "Let us build a professional, ethical, and nationally committed community of teachers."
During the event, family members of martyrs from the July mass uprising and attending faculty from public and private universities shared their views.
