Published : 21 Dec 2025, 05:25 AM
Updated : 21 Aug 2026, 02:54 PM
The Dhaka University Central Students’ Union (DUCSU) has announced a programme to besiege the vice-chancellor’s office, demanding the renaming of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Hall.
It wants the hall to be rechristened as Shaheed Osman Hadi Hall.
The student body also demanded that a women’s hall currently named after Sheikh Fazilatunnesa be redesignated as Felani Hall.
Felani Khatun was a 15-year-old Bangladeshi girl who was killed by India’s border guards in 2011 at Kurigram, an incident that sparked national outrage.
The move faced opposition from the hall’s vice-president and general secretary, as DUCSU “did not consult” the elected hall representatives.
Alongside the hall renaming, the student union also called for action against teachers, officials and staff “who supported the July atrocities”.
DUCSU Cultural Secretary Musaddiq Ali Ibn Mohammad said in a media statement on Saturday evening that the demonstration, announced by Vice-President Shadik Kayem, will take place at 2:30pm on Sunday.
Earlier, at 2am on Friday, following the news of the death of Inqilab Moncho Convenor Sharif Osman bin Hadi, posters reading “Shaheed Sharif Osman Hadi Hall” were placed over the nameplate of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Hall by the hall’s vice-president and general secretary.
They put forward a demand to change the hall’s name on that day.
Tasnim Akter Nabila, vice-president Bangamata Sheikh Fazilatunnesa Mujib Hall, said: “Why was such a programme announced by DUCSU without informing our hall council? We want an explanation.”
She added that the hall council would take a comprehensive decision during a meeting later in the night.
The hall’s General Secretary Miftahul Jannat Rifat also criticised the process in a Facebook post, saying discussions on renaming were under way internally but DUCSU went public without consultation.
“We agreed in principle on renaming and were collecting views from female students through our internal groups,” she wrote. “But no one from DUCSU contacted the hall council before posting this on its official Facebook page.
She added, “The decisions of the students of this hall must be respected. Without speaking to anyone from our hall, DUCSU made this announcement. Does anyone have an answer for this?”
Rifat said the option that received the highest number of votes among residents was Captain Sitara Begum, a Bir Protik, as students favoured naming the hall after a figure symbolising the role of Bengali women in the Liberation War.
Felani Hall ranked second, she added, and discussions were ongoing around the two options.
Calling the announcement an “imposed decision”, Rifat expressed objection to the approach taken.
Attempts to reach her were unsuccessful. Vice-President Nabila, however, confirmed that the Facebook profile belonged to her.
On the matter, DUCSU General Secretary SM Farhad said they had held an open discussion a short while earlier with the hall unions’s vice-president and general secretary.
“There is no disagreement. Two different opinions have emerged from two separate polls -- Sitara Begum and Felani,” he said.
“As we received the view of one section of students, the issue unfolded in this way. The core point here is the renaming itself. Which name the hall will carry will be decided through students’ opinion.”
Earlier this year, on Sept 3, the words “Father of the Nation” and “Bangabandhu” were removed from the official name of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Hall.
