ABSTRACT
Academic freedom in Bangladesh has significantly deteriorated over the past 12 years. This chapter examines the situation of academic freedom in Bangladesh. Applying the standardized research guidelines for case studies on academic freedom, it details the characteristics of the higher education system and examines the current state of academic freedom across areas ranging from legal and institutional protection to the freedom to research and campus security. It finds a culture of fear within Bangladeshi academia, which has witnessed rampant government intervention in universities and increased self-censorship among academics against the backdrop of a nationwide culture of authoritarian intimidation. Academics have been forcefully disappeared, arrested, imprisoned, and made redundant for expressing criticism of the government. Students and academics are divided: Those who exercise their democratic rights to protest do so in the face of threats, while those who support the government are gaining in strength and influence. Excessive state interference is rampant. Senior academic and administrative positions are filled with party loyalists, who in turn remain indebted to their political benefactors, favour ruling-party – affiliated candidates in recruitment, and are timid when scholars and students are targeted.
