DU Correspondent

Protesting the display of Pakistan founder Muhammad Ali Jinnah’s photographs at the DUCSU museum, the Student Federation has put up an image of war criminal Ghulam Azam being beaten with shoes at the same spot.

Around 3pm on Monday, a group of students led by Dhaka University unit Organising Secretary Arka Barua put up the photograph.

Asked about it, Arka told bdnews24.com: “DUCSU belongs to no one’s father. No one will accept history being presented one-sidedly.

“Ghulam Azams [war criminals] did what they did in 1971, and people beat him with shoes in 1981 as a result. We have preserved the history of the people of this country.”

Azam, then Jamaat-e-Islami chief, was beaten with shoes at a funeral prayer at Baitul Mukarram Mosque on Jan 1, 1981.

The incident remains a symbol of public hatred towards opponents of Bangladesh’s independence.

During the Liberation War, he led the formation of the Peace Committee, Razakar and Al-Badr forces, which assisted Pakistani troops in mass killings and torture.

He also lobbied West Asian countries against Bangladesh’s independence.

In 2013, the International Crimes Tribunal (ICT) sentenced him to 90 years for crimes against humanity. He died in hospital the following year while serving the sentence.

DUCSU reopened the museum on Sunday after renovations, adding three Jinnah photographs while displaying no prominent solo image of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.

Amid criticism, DU student Abu Tayeb Habilder tore down the three photographs on Monday.

Soon afterwards, Arka put up the Azam image.

He told reporters that the 1981 public shoe-pelting was also part of Bangladesh’s history, adding that if Jinnah’s pictures were installed because someone wanted them, students too wanted to display the image.

Students present applauded.