Why Are Our Teachers Silent?

Dr. Moshiur Rahman

There is a strange paradox in our country. University teachers are constantly writing about their research in international journals, staying up late to prepare manuscripts for foreign readers. Yet, for their own people, for the Bengali-speaking community, their pens remain almost silent. How much longer will we accept this silence?

Look at Western universities. Teachers there don’t just confine themselves to the lab—they are continually engaged in dialogue with society. They write for newspapers, for magazines, analyze on television. Ordinary people understand the significance of scientific advancement in their daily lives. But what about here? Our teachers enjoy writing about politics, but rarely write to enlighten the public about their areas of expertise.

To fill this gap, journalists often cover science news. But here’s the problem: journalists do not always understand science, nor can they grasp the intricacies of research. As a result, even the smallest study can be sensationalized as a “groundbreaking discovery” and presented to readers. This misleads the public and turns the researcher into the subject of unnecessary hype. If teachers themselves wrote, there would be no room for such distortion.

So the question remains—why don’t teachers write? Many excuse themselves by saying they aren’t used to writing in Bengali. They are comfortable in English, afraid to write in Bengali. But is this fear reasonable? Those who impart knowledge every day, whose words shape the future of the younger generation, are they really unable to speak to the general public in Bengali? Or have they consciously chosen to remain silent?

The university is not just a center for teaching or publishing research papers. It is a moral and intellectual guide for society. If teachers do not open up their knowledge to the public, the university loses its true role. In the West, universities have won society’s trust mainly because their teachers engage in public conversation. If our teachers avoid this responsibility, they will remain trapped within their own circles.

In the digital age, there’s no shortage of platforms for writing. Online platforms, blogs, newspapers, even social media can be vehicles for disseminating scientific perspectives. The question is, do our teachers truly want society to learn from them? Or are they satisfied with just writing for international recognition?

Let me be clear—it’s not only the responsibility of journalists or platforms to translate the researcher’s language for the public. This is the personal ethical duty of the teacher. If you truly believe that knowledge is the main tool for progress, then why are you silent? Why aren’t you sharing your expertise with society?

The future of Bangladesh depends on building a knowledge-based society. But to build such a society, teachers’ pens must come forward. Your silence is the biggest obstacle to our progress. So today I ask—teachers, will you remain silent, or will you finally take up the pen?