JCD slams Jinnah photo display in DUCSU archives
Photo: Agamir Somoy
Jatiotabadi Chatradal (JCD) condemned the display of a 1948 photograph of Muhammad Ali Jinnah in the archives of the Dhaka University Central Students’ Union (DUCSU), saying the Shibir-controlled DUCSU leadership is demonstrating “love for Pakistan”.
JCD Central President Rakibul Islam Rakib and General Secretary Nasir Uddin Nasir made these remarks in a joint statement released on Monday.
The statement highlighted that on 21 March 1948, standing at the former Racecourse Maidan (Suhrawardy Udyan), Jinnah declared, “Urdu and only Urdu shall be the state language of Pakistan.”
It added that the students of University of Dhaka then immediately raised their voice in defiance against Jinnah’s extreme audacity, a protest that laid the core foundation for the Language Movement and the Liberation War.
JCD said, “Displaying the picture of that leader in the archives of DUCSU, the student union that serves as the cradle of self-determination movement, stands as a direct insult to the heritage of the language and independence movements.”
Expressing concern over Jinnah’s photograph, JCD added that the DUCSU leadership has completely failed to address the student housing crisis, secure essential rights, or establish a proper academic environment. Disregarding the legitimate interests of students, DUCSU leaders have instead converted the council into a tool to execute their specific party and ideological agenda.
The statement also raised the issue of Madhur Canteen, pointing out that continuous actions - starting from the attempt to rename Madhur Canteen to “Ishrat Manzil” to installing Jinnah’s photograph in the DUCSU archives - proved that the Shibir-controlled DUCSU council has abandoned public aspirations and DU’s spirit of liberation to demonstrate subtle affection and “love for Pakistan” toward the defeated forces of 1971.
JCD demanded, “The picture of Jinnah, who opposed the Bengali language, must be removed immediately from the DUCSU archives; using DUCSU as a place for practicing the ideology of any specific political group must be stopped, and all attempts to distort every historical monument and spirit of DU, including the Madhur Canteen, will be resisted.”
It added, “Just as the university’s student roared against Jinnah’s statement imposing Urdu as the state language in 1948, the JCD, together with students, will build a united resistance against any force to protect the progressive spirit, history, and tradition of the university.”
