Jinnah’s portrait displayed on DUCSU wall replacing Bangabandhu’s, sparking outrage from Chhatra Moitri

Campus Correspondent

Bangladesh Chhatra Maitree has expressed strong anger and protest over the removal of the portrait of Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and the display of a portrait of Pakistan’s founder Mohammad Ali Jinnah at the DUCSU building of Dhaka University.

The protest was announced in a press release sent by Chhatra Maitree’s Publicity Secretary Anik Dewan on Monday (September 14).

The notice said that Dhaka University was the birthplace of the language movement and the heart of independence. In the name of reform, the glorious picture of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman has been removed and a picture of Mohammad Ali Jinnah has been displayed in the DUCSU museum.

Students’ union leaders claim that this is not just a case of removing a picture; it is a conspiracy to erase history.

The organization said that the language movement in Bangladesh began with the protest against Jinnah’s statement ‘Urdu and Urdu shall be the state language of Pakistan’ and that the seeds of independence were sown through that movement.

The announcement also said that replacing Bangabandhu with Jinnah in DUCSU in 2026 is not a reform, but rather a betrayal of history. The student alliance claims that this is a sign of the return of the defeated forces of 1971.

The leaders of the Student Alliance alleged that those who did this are unaware of the history of Dhaka University and do not have the spirit of the Liberation War. The organization demanded that the decision be immediately revoked, Bangabandhu’s portrait restored to its rightful place, and those involved in such activities be held accountable.

The notice said that keeping a picture of Mohammad Ali Jinnah in the DUCSU museum to preserve the history of Pakistan—although related to the historical context of the announcement of Urdu as the sole state language of Pakistan in 1948—is tantamount to erasing the history of Bengal and Bengalis.

Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman was a student of Dhaka University and it is also mentioned that an important chapter of his political life began from this university.

Bangladesh Student Alliance has strongly condemned and protested DUCSU’s actions in this incident.