Dhaka University has begun removing the name “Shaheed Osman Hadi Hall” from the entrance of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Hall, nearly 10 months after students put it up without formal university approval.
University personnel were seen Wednesday afternoon erasing the name and restoring “Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Hall” on the main entrance.
The reason is straightforward: on paper, the hall was never renamed.
“On paper, the hall remains named Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Hall, but the sign at the gate read Shaheed Osman Hadi Hall,” Joban Ali, the hall’s senior administrative officer, said.
“This discrepancy caused confusion among students and guardians. Based on their complaints, the administration decided to restore the official name.”
Repeated attempts by Daily Waadaa to reach hall Provost Prof Akhtaruzzaman were unsuccessful.
The proposed renaming had reached the DU Senate on June 29, but no final decision was taken.
Vice-Chancellor Prof A B M Obaidul Islam told that session that the Syndicate had forwarded the proposal to the Senate but it had not been approved.
DUCSU Vice-President Shadik Kayem and General Secretary S M Farhad, along with several representatives, walked out of the session over the issue.
Kayem and Farhad, who are affiliated with Bangladesh Islami Chhatra Shibir, have demanded the removal of the names of Sheikh Mujib and members of his family from university structures.
Farhad said at the time that their principal demand was to remove the existing name, rather than necessarily rename the hall after a particular person.
The dispute dates back to the political transformation that followed the 2024 uprising.
On Sept. 3, 2025, the DU Syndicate removed “Bangabandhu” and “Jatir Janak” — Father of the Nation — from the hall’s longer title, leaving its official name as Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Hall.
The controversy intensified after student leader Sharif Osman Bin Hadi died from gunshot wounds in December 2025.
On the night of Dec. 19-20, a group of students and hall union representatives used a crane to cover parts of the existing nameplate and a mural of Sheikh Mujib. They installed a banner reading “Shaheed Osman Hadi Hall.”
Hall union representatives later submitted a memorandum seeking formal approval for the new name, backed by what they said were 700 to 800 student signatures.
The university never formally approved it.
The restoration is unlikely to settle the dispute.
Muslimur Rahman, vice-president of the hall union, said students had faced hostility while participating in events under the hall’s official name.
He alleged that during a Victory Day programme in December 2025, police seized their wreath at the National Martyrs’ Memorial after seeing the name of the hall.
Abdur Rob Nasim, a 2019-20 economics student, said residents did not necessarily insist on naming the hall after Osman Hadi.
“It doesn't necessarily have to be named after Shaheed Osman Hadi — there are many national leaders,” he said. “But under no circumstances do we want the hall to retain Mujib's name.”
The university administration’s move resolves the immediate discrepancy between its records and the signboard.
The larger argument over whose name should remain on the hall is far from resolved.
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