CU history department event held without pro-VC after boycott announcement

The Chattogram University history department held its freshers’ reception and farewell programme without Pro-Vice-Chancellor Academic Professor Mohammad Shamim Uddin Khan following a boycott announcement over his remarks on martyred intellectuals.

The pro-vice-chancellor was scheduled to attend the programme as a guest on Monday morning. However, graduating students of the department staged a sit-in earlier, demanding withdrawal of his remarks and announcing a boycott. As a result, although the programme was scheduled to start at 10 am, graduating students did not attend until noon. Later, the department informed that the pro-vice-chancellor would not be present, after which the students joined the event.

Earlier, students of the graduating batch of the history department, titled Hridaye Uddipto-55, issued a statement protesting the pro-vice-chancellor’s remarks on martyred intellectuals and announcing his boycott. The statement was sent to the media on Monday.

The statement said the history department is uncompromising on the spirit of the Liberation War, truth and ethical historical practice. It alleged that the pro-vice-chancellor distorted the history of the Liberation War and defended the Pakistani occupation forces, describing the remarks as audacious and deeply insulting. It added that no event of the history department is acceptable in his presence.

The statement further said the history department is not merely an academic space but a bearer of the memories of sacrifice and struggle of the Liberation War. From this department, Abdur Rob and Farhad Ud-Doula were martyred in the war. Any attempt to distort that blood-soaked history goes against the department’s moral stance.

Mushfiqur Rahman, a student of the 55th batch of the history department, said such remarks from someone in a guardian-like position at the university are strongly condemnable. “We decided to boycott because he was listed as a guest. When we were informed that he would not attend, we joined the programme,” he said.

Attempts to contact History Department Chair Professor Shamim Haider were unsuccessful as he said he was busy and disconnected the call. Repeated attempts to reach Lecturer Md Nurul Hamid, who was responsible for the programme, also received no response.

Meanwhile, students of the English department of Chattogram University also issued a separate statement protesting the pro-vice-chancellor’s remarks, expressing deep concern and strong condemnation.

It may be noted that at a discussion organised on Martyred Intellectuals Day, Pro-Vice-Chancellor Professor Mohammad Shamim Uddin Khan said he found it “irrelevant” that intellectuals were killed when the Pakistani occupation forces were leaving the country. However, BNP-aligned teachers’ leader Professor Mohammad Al Amin, who was present at the event, disagreed, saying the Pakistani occupation forces and their collaborators had systematically killed intellectuals to intellectually cripple the nation.