Staff Reporter:
A student of Dhaka University on Monday tore down and damaged three photographs of Pakistan’s founder leader Muhammad Ali Jinnah displayed at the Dhaka University Central Students’ Union (DUCSU) museum, protesting their inclusion in the museum.
Abu Tayeb Habilder, a fourth-year undergraduate student in the Department of Urdu at the university, went to the DUCSU museum with his two children and damaged a framed portrait of Jinnah around 2:30 pm. During that time Tayeb also said there is no reason of displaying any photo of our enemy, Bangladesh’s enemy on this sovereign soil.
He had also contested the 2025 DUCSU election as an independent candidate for the vice-president post and was reportedly the oldest candidate in the election.
He subsequently removed the photograph from its frame and tore down it apart.
He then damaged two other Jinnah-related photographs displayed at the museum, removing them from their frames and tearing them.
During the time, Tayeb questioned why DUCSU has displayed photographs of Jinnah while leaving out the “real heroes” of the Language Movement.
“Why has DUCSU displayed photographs of Jinnah, leaving out the real heroes of our Language Movement? DUCSU leaders must answer for this,” he said.
“The Jinnah who wanted to take away our mother tongue – how can his photograph be displayed here? DUCSU Vice-President Sadik Kayem, do you want to make Urdu the state language?” he added.
Tayeb also accused Jinnah of opposing the Bangla language and described him as a “villain of history” and a key figure responsible for the persecution of Bengalis.
“Jinnah came to the University of Dhaka in 1948 and opposed the Bangla language. When the Language Movement began, Jinnah’s followers and his administration beat students of Dhaka University. Sheikh Mujibur Rahman was arrested,” he said.
Referring to the DUCSU election manifesto, Tayeb questioned whether the elected leaders promised to “make Jinnah a hero” and display his photograph in a place as significant as the DUCSU museum.
“We, the children of 1971, have not died. The children of the language martyrs have not died. We have fought against every autocrat. Our predecessors fought armed battles, and the present generation fought against autocracy and Sheikh Hasina. We did not fight to establish Jinnah here,” he said.
The DUCSU museum was reopened on Sunday following renovation, with three new Jinnah-related exhibits added to its collection. Their inclusion sparked widespread discussion and criticism.
Meanwhile, the Bangladesh Jatiyatabadi Chhatra Dal and several left-leaning student organizations have condemned and protested against the display of the photographs of Jinnah at the DUCSU museum.
