DU to take action against those behind Jinnah, Malek photo display at Ducsu archive

Highlights:

• Jinnah, Abdul Malek photos displayed at Ducsu archive
• Ducsu installed ‘Nirbhik July’ memorial without DU approval
• DU objects to unauthorised teacher evaluation website
• Administration warns against parallel administrative structures at DU

The Dhaka University (DU) administration has said action will be taken against those responsible for displaying a photograph of Pakistan’s former governor-general Muhammad Ali Jinnah and former student leader Abdul Malek at the Dhaka University Central Students’ Union (Ducsu) historical archive.

In a statement issued by the university’s Public Relations Office today (14 September), the administration said displaying photographs of individuals whose roles conflict with the history of the 1952 Language Movement and 1971 Liberation War was unacceptable.

The administration also said several recent activities of Ducsu, the current committee of which is run mostly by Islami Chhatra Shibir leaders and activists, were inconsistent with the university’s laws, policies, and administrative structure, stressing that its position on the matter was clear.

The statement came after controversy arose and protests took place over the reopened Ducsu archive featuring a photograph of Jinnah delivering his controversial “Urdu shall be the state language of Pakistan” speech at the then Racecourse Maidan on 21 March 1948.

A group photograph related to the 1940 Lahore Resolution and a Dawn newspaper report on the 1970 election featuring a photograph of Jinnah were also put on display.

Earlier today, the DU unit of Chhatra Dal gave the university administration 24 hours to remove the photos, and warned that protest programmes would be held if that does not happen.

Then, this afternoon, Abu Taher Habildar, a fourth-year student of the university’s Urdu Department, entered the archive and tore down the photos around 2:30pm.

Soon after, around 3pm, protesting the display of Jinnah’s photographs, a group of leaders and activists of the Bangladesh Chhatra Federation’s DU unit put up a photograph at the Ducsu archive, which shows Jamaat-e-Islami leader Ghulam Azam being beaten with shoes in front of the Baitul Mukarram National Mosque in 1981.

The series of incidents led to tension around the campus and panic among general students throughout the day.

According to the DU statement, Article 24(A) of the Dhaka University Order, 1973 assigns the Syndicate responsibility for overseeing, maintaining, and controlling university property.

Meanwhile, a note under Chapter XIV, Section 4 of the Dhaka University Ordinances and Regulations states that the students’ union must make decisions subject to the vice-chancellor’s directions.

However, Ducsu installed a memorial titled “Nirbhik July” on the west side of the Ducsu building near the Arts Building and in front of the Central Library without obtaining permission from, or holding discussions with, the Syndicate or the vice-chancellor, the administration said.

The university also criticised Ducsu’s initiative to evaluate teachers through a website launched without approval from the DU authorities.

It said teacher evaluation is an important academic and institutional matter, and no individual, organisation or student body can introduce a separate evaluation system on its own.

The administration further alleged that the website had made teachers’ personal information publicly available, which it said constituted a punishable offence under the law.

“Any initiative to introduce a separate teacher evaluation system outside the approved policy is unacceptable,” the statement said, adding that such activities could damage the university’s reputation.

The administration said there was no scope for establishing a parallel administrative system at DU. While Ducsu is an important student representative body, all its activities must be conducted within the university’s laws, rules, policies, and administrative framework.

It warned that any attempt to bypass the university administration and establish a parallel structure or process would be firmly resisted.

The university said it would make no compromise in maintaining institutional discipline and protecting the historical significance of the Language Movement and Liberation War.

It added that strict administrative action would be taken under existing rules against those responsible for constructing any structure or introducing any separate administrative mechanism without the university’s approval.