Former student vandalizes Jinnah's portrait inside DUCSU
Collected Photo
A former student of Dhaka University tore down the portrait of Pakistan's founder, Muhammad Ali Jinnah, which had been placed in the newly renovated museum of the Dhaka University Central Students' Union (DUCSU).
The former student, identified as Abu Taher Haldar, entered the DUCSU museum located on the ground floor of the DUCSU building on Monday and tore apart the pictures of Jinnah.
The Bangladesh Jatiyatabadi Chhatra Dal (JCD) had also been demanding the removal of Jinnah's portrait from the museum, which was set up under the initiative of DUCSU, currently led by Islami Chhatra Shibir—the student wing of Jamaat-e-Islami, an organization that opposed Bangladesh's independence in 1971.
Meanwhile, Fatima Tasnim Zuma, the DUCSU Liberation War Affairs Secretary who is in charge of the museum, described the incident of tearing down the portrait as an "attack."
Following the July Uprising, Chhatra Shibir assumed control of DUCSU after winning the first elections held thereafter. Under their initiative, the DUCSU museum was renovated and reopened on Sunday.
It was then observed that while individual or prominent portraits celebrating the leader of Bangladesh's independence struggle, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, found no place, a portrait of Pakistan's founder Muhammad Ali Jinnah had been newly added.
Amid widespread criticism over the matter, former student Abu Taher entered the DUCSU museum today, pulled Jinnah's portrait off the wall, and smashed it. He then removed the photo from its frame and tore it into pieces.
At the time, Abu Taher was heard saying, "Why did DUCSU hang this picture of Jinnah? Sadiq Kayem (DUCSU VP), do you want to make Urdu the state language?
"This DUCSU dared displaying the picture of Jinnah, the man who declared that the state language would not be Bengali, but Urdu. This DUCSU is doing whatever it pleases. A villain of history, the primary mastermind behind the slaughter of Bengalis, came to Curzon Hall and explicitly declared that Urdu would be the state language."
In 1948, Jinnah, then Governor-General of Pakistan, visited Dhaka and declared that Urdu would be the sole state language of Pakistan. Immediate protests erupted on the university campus. The struggle for Bengali as a state language eventually led to the sacrifice of blood on February 21, 1952.
Although Jinnah passed away in 1948, Pakistani exploitation and oppression of Bengalis continued. Following a long path of struggle and an armed war in 1971, Bangladesh achieved its independence.
JCD demands removal of Jinnah’s portrait, DUCSU Secretary calls vandalism an ‘attack’
On Sunday, the Bangladesh Jatiyatabadi Chhatra Dal (JCD), the student wing of the ruling BNP, issued a statement protesting the inclusion of Muhammad Ali Jinnah’s portrait—who opposed giving Bengali the status of a state language—in the DUCSU museum.
Today, JCD leaders met with the Vice-Chancellor of Dhaka University and President of DUCSU, Professor A. B. M. Obaidul Islam, demanding the removal of Jinnah’s portrait from the collection within 24 hours. The student leaders warned of launching protest programs if the demand is not met.
Highlighting DUCSU’s historical role in key democratic movements—including the Language Movement, the Education Movement, the Liberation War, and anti-autocracy struggles—Nahiduzzaman Shipon, General Secretary of Dhaka University JCD, told reporters that exhibiting Jinnah’s portrait in such a historical archive controversies DUCSU’s legacy.
Meanwhile, immediately after the destruction of the portrait, DUCSU Liberation War Affairs Secretary Fatima Tasnim Zuma wrote on Facebook, "The DUCSU museum was attacked, and pictures were vandalized."
She later published another post clarifying the historical period and context behind the inclusion of Jinnah's photographs.
In her post, Juma explained that one of the photos of Jinnah was actually a newspaper clipping from the 1970 elections, which contained a news report about him. The second image dated back to the presentation of the Lahore Resolution in 1940. The third photograph depicted Jinnah’s public rally in Dhaka, where the caption itself noted that the struggle for the state language began right after Jinnah’s speech at that very gathering.
