Removing Jinnah’s photo, Chatra Dal has actually sided with Jinnah: DUCSU GS

DUCSU General Secretary (GS) SM Farhad has explained the reason for keeping the photo of Pakistan’s founder Muhammad Ali Jinnah in the collection room of Dhaka University Central Students’ Union (DUCSU). He said the photo was kept along with Jinnah’s statement to highlight the historical context of his position against the Bangla language.

He made these remarks while talking to journalists in front of the DUCSU building on Monday afternoon (September 14). Earlier in the noon, a former student named Abu Tayeb Habildar broke the photo of Jinnah kept in the DUCSU collection room.

SM Farhad said the Language Movement of 1952 was not a sudden incident. There was a long political and cultural background behind it. According to him, Jinnah consistently took a position against the Bangla language and spoke in favour of making Urdu the state language of Pakistan. The quotation of Jinnah’s statement has been given below the photo to explain that historical position.

The DUCSU GS further said if the photo had not been kept in the collection room, there could have been allegations of hiding Jinnah’s anti-Bangla language stance. He claimed the purpose of presenting Jinnah’s photo and statement together was to clearly highlight that chapter of history, not to give him immunity.

At this time, Farhad criticised the demand of Dhaka University unit Chatra Dal to remove Jinnah’s photo. He said Chatra Dal leaders met the vice-chancellor and demanded removal of the photo and even gave a 24-hour ultimatum on the matter. In his view, this position is effectively equivalent to siding with Jinnah. However, he also claimed that keeping the photo in the collection room is not a matter of taking sides, but rather part of presenting historical information.

Farhad further said Chatra Dal may not know about Jinnah’s anti-Bangla language role, or even if they know, they are trying to hide the matter. According to him, even if there are differences of opinion on Jinnah’s historical role, it is proper to present it in the appropriate context instead of erasing history.