Story of Dhaka University – The voice for the oppressed
Seventy-five years ago on October 10, 1946, it was the day of Kojagari Lakshmi Puja, when Bengali Hindus of Bangladesh were offering prayers to the goddess of prosperity. It was a full moon night and devotees were busy making last-minute preparations for the puja when rioters attacked. The perpetrators were Muslim National Guards and private military. They targeted Bengali Hindus. The Noakhali riots were a series of semi-organized massacres, mass rapes, abductions and forced conversions.
Seventy-five years later, between October 13-19, mobs instigated communal violence against Durga Puja pandals. More than 120 temples and makeshift worship arrangements were vandalized in Comilla, Chandpur, Chattagram (Chittagong), Bandarban, Noakhali, Moulavibazar, Gazipur, Narshingdi, Feni and other districts. But one place of learning stood up against the mob frenzy and thoughtless seeds of communalism – students of Dhaka University, who took to the streets protesting against the instigated violence.
Dhaka University carries a legacy of upholding the truth and rights. Since its very inception, Dhaka University has been a hotbed of revolutionaries and protesters. Its gutsy teacher and student community has always taken up cudgels on behalf of the weak and the helpless. Students have confronted the Establishment headlong and sought reprisal for autocratic decisions imposed on the masses or injustices meted out to society in any form -- be it social, political, religious or language.
Demanding that the Bangladesh government should enact a new law to ensure religious freedom for everyone, protesters and academicians of Dhaka University and other educational institutions took to the streets in protest. They blocked a major road crossing in Dhaka on October 18 to speak out against the ongoing attacks on temples and homes of citizens belonging to the minority community in different parts of the country. Dhaka University students gathered at Shahbagh intersection in huge numbers while another group under the banner of Swamibag Ashram, ISKCON held a rally at the Jatiya Press Club and then marched towards Shahbagh.
The Dhaka University Teachers' Association (DUTA) demanded exemplary punishment for those involved in the attacks on Hindu temples and Durga Puja venues across the country. They also urged the government to enact a new law to ensure religious freedom for everyone. Over a hundred teachers from various departments of the university participated in the programme and made a human chain, voicing the demands, at the Dhaka University campus.
Condemning the violence, Dhaka University (DU) Vice-Chancellor, M Akhtaruzzaman said: “The Durga Puja celebration of this country was a model of secularism for the entire world. This festival is supposed to be open to people of all religions. The rise of communal evil in various parts of the country is disgraceful and cannot be tolerated. We urge the government to identify the perpetrators immediately and bring them to book.”
The Dhaka University Teachers' Association (DUTA) demanded exemplary punishment for those involved in the attacks on Hindu temples and Durga Puja venues across the country. They also urged the government to enact a new law to ensure religious freedom for everyone.
Former Vice-Chancellor of Jagannath University, Mijanur Rahman said perpetrators of communal violence often get away without punishment, and this needs to be stopped. Leaders and activists of the Progressive Student Alliance and the Khulna University Teachers' Association also condemned the violence against the Hindu community.
Students and teachers of Dhaka University also staged a street drama titled 'Dekhte Ki Pao, Purche Bangla? (Can you see that Bangla is burning?)' to protest the attacks. Human rights activists under the banner 'Poets, litterateur, artists and journalists against communal terrorism' also organised a rally in front of the National Museum at Shahbagh.
Dhaka University carries a legacy of upholding the truth and rights. Since its very inception, Dhaka University has been a hotbed of revolutionaries and protesters. Its gutsy teacher and student community has always taken up cudgels on behalf of the weak and the helpless. Students have confronted the Establishment headlong and sought reprisal for autocratic decisions imposed on the masses or injustices meted out to society in any form -- be it social, political, religious or language. This is not the first time that the student fraternity of Dhaka and other universities of Bangladesh have been raising their voices against communal violence perpetrated on the minorities living in Bangladesh. The teachers and students of Dhaka University have been at the forefront of the language movement (Bhasha Andolan) that rocked the very foundation of former unified Pakistan and ultimately led to the birth of Bangladesh.
(To be continued)
