
The Parliament is one of the least researched political institutions in the country. Unlike other parliaments which routinely compile and publish information on different types of activities of parliamentarians, the Bangladesh Parliament remains seriously deficient; it does not appear to be much aware of the practices followed in other parliaments. Nor does there exist many scholarly works on the working of Parliament in Bangladesh.
Muzharul Islam is the single most dominant influence on modern architecture in Bangladesh. Fifty eight years since he started his practice the influence continues. Other than the odd article here and there and references to his projects in others, there has been no major publication of his works. Muzharul Islam gave the first public lecture on his work at BRAC University in May, 2002 at the age of 78, when he had almost stopped designing. It was soon after his lecture that a book on his work was conceived. This was not an easy task since nowhere was his work documented.
Bangladesh enters the fifth decade of its independence in 2011. It expects to transform itself during this decade from one of the U.N. designated least developed countries in to a middle income economy, building prosperity with equity for its people. Quality education for its people, ant its capability to exploit the potentials of the knowledge economy and the information society, will be the key to this transformation.