Amid the ongoing controversy over the display of a photograph of Pakistan’s founder Muhammad Ali Jinnah at the Dhaka University Central Students’ Union (Ducsu) museum, photographs of Jinnah and former Jamaat-e-Islami amir Ghulam Azam were pasted on the ground outside the Ducsu building to trample over on Tuesday.
Around 2:30pm, a group of students pasted the two photographs on the floor in front of the Ducsu building. Some students then walked over the photographs in protest.
Earlier, the newly reopened Ducsu museum, following renovation, drew widespread discussion and criticism on campus after photographs of Pakistan’s founder Muhammad Ali Jinnah and Abdul Malek, a leader of the then Pakistan Chhatra Sanga, were put on display.
Amid the controversy, Abu Tayeb Habildar, a student of the Department of Urdu at Dhaka University and a candidate for the vice-president post in the 2025 Ducsu election, entered the museum on Monday afternoon, broke the frames of Jinnah’s photographs and tore them apart.
Later that afternoon, Arko Barua, organising secretary of the Dhaka University unit of Bangladesh Chhatra Federation, put up a photograph depicting Ghulam Azam being beaten with shoes in place of Jinnah’s photographs.
Meanwhile, the Dhaka University administration has also taken a firm stance over the display of Jinnah’s photograph.
The administration said displaying photographs of individuals whose presence or legacy conflicts with the Language Movement, the historic Liberation Struggle and the core spirit of Bangladesh’s independence is unacceptable at the university or in the Ducsu museum.
It also said administrative action would be taken against those involved in the incidents in accordance with university rules.
A three-member committee, headed by Pro-Vice-Chancellor (admin), has also been formed to look into the matter.
