Bangabandhu renamed Osman Hadi Hall
The Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Hall at the Dhaka University has been renamed in memory of Sharif Osman Hadi, a prominent youth leader who was part of the July Uprising that toppled Sheikh Hasina’s Government in Bangladesh last year, local media said on Sunday. Hadi died on Thursday, six days after he was shot in the head in the capital.
The hall union, a students’ body, erased the nameplate at the main gate and replaced it with a new one, ‘Shaheed Sharif Osman Hadi Hall’ on Saturday, the Dhaka Tribune said. He was shot in the head on December 12 by masked gunmen at an election campaign in central Dhaka’s Bijoynagar area. He died while undergoing treatment in Singapore on Thursday.
His death triggered attacks and vandalism across Bangladesh. Also, several students are painting over the graffiti mural of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman that was on the hall’s main building. Musaddiq Ibn Ali Mohammad, Dhaka University Central Students’ Union’s (DUCSU) secretary for cultural affairs, announced that the nameplate would be removed using a crane at 9:30 pm on Saturday, the report said.
On-site observation showed that work to erase the hall’s name began around 9:45 pm. Later, at 11:15 pm, work began to paint over the graffiti. When asked whether the hall council leaders had obtained permission to erase the graffiti and name, Hall Council VP Muslimur Rahman told the media: "The students demanded that this be removed. So, we are removing it based on the students’ verdict."
