Published : 14 Sep 2026, 04:34 AM
Updated : 16 Sep 2026, 11:50 AM
The renovated DUCSU museum has reopened with Muhammad Ali Jinnah now among the prominent figures on display. But some of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman’s most iconic photographs are missing.
Jinnah appears in multiple images, including one from his 1948 declaration that “Only Urdu shall be the state language of Pakistan”. Mujib, meanwhile, is represented mainly through photographs from the 1970s and newspaper clippings.
The museum was reopened Sunday by DUCSU Secretary for Liberation War and Mass Movements Fatima Tasnim Zuma, with Vice-President Shadik Kayem, General Secretary SM Farhad and others present.
Spanning Dhaka University’s founding in 1921 through the July Uprising and the killing of Inqilab Moncho leader Sharif Osman Hadi, the revamped display includes three Jinnah images.
They show his 1948 speech at Racecourse Ground, the 1940 Lahore conference where the resolution for a separate Muslim state was adopted, and a 1970 election report published by Dawn.
Other historical figures featured include AK Fazlul Huq, Huseyn Shaheed Suhrawardy, Abdul Hamid Khan Bhashani, Rabindranath Tagore, Kazi Nazrul Islam, MAG Osmani, Ziaur Rahman and Khaleda Zia.
There is no standalone prominent photograph of Sheikh Mujib. His image appears in three newspaper clippings and photographs of his sons’ weddings between 1971 and 1975.
Images from his leadership of the Language Movement, United Front election, Six-Point movement, Agartala Conspiracy case, 1969 Mass Uprising, 1970 election and Mar 7 speech are missing.
Asked why, Zuma told bdnews24: “After Aug 5, 2024, all the images of the icons of ‘fascism’ were removed from here.”
She added that Sheikh Mujib’s photographs remained in the 1972-75 section. Asked why none from 1947-71 were retained, she replied: “I did not feel like it, so I did not keep it.”
Asked about Jinnah’s photographs, she said: “I did not keep Jinnah’s picture, I kept the picture of that event.”
A DUCSU employee said many Sheikh Mujib photographs remained before the 2025 election but were removed after Islami Chhatra Shibir won control of the union.
Numan Ahmad Chowdhury, who contested the Liberation War and Mass Movements secretary post, criticised the changes.
He said the museum had retained Mujib only in what he called the controversial chapter of his life while removing the images that represented the liberation struggle.
“DUCSU has kept Sheikh Mujib’s picture, but it has kept the chapter of his life that is controversial,” he said. “But the Sheikh Mujib around whom the entire Bengali nation united in the liberation struggle has been removed.”
