Dhaka University has conferred an honorary ‘Doctor of Laws’ degree (posthumous) on Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman as a token of respect.
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, the elder daughter of Bangabandhu, received the honorary degree on behalf of her father at a special convocation held at the central playground of the university on Sunday (October 29, 2023).
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, who is also a former student of Dhaka University, attended the event as the Convocation Speaker. Vice Chancellor of Dhaka University Professor Dr Mohammad Akhtaruzzaman presided over the special convocation programme, while Education Minister Dr Dipu Moni attended as the special guest.
President Mohammed Shahabuddin, chancellor of the university, could not attend the programme due to health reason.
The convocation programme started at about 11:00 am with the playing of national anthem followed by recitation from the holy religious scriptures. A cultural programme and a documentary reflecting Bangabandhu’s contributions in leading the nation to freedom and rebuilding a war-torn country were also screened at the programme.
Later, DU VC Professor Dr Mohammad Akhtaruzzaman conferred the ‘Doctor of Laws’ degree on Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina received the degree and memorandum, and signed the acknowledgement paper on behalf of Bangabandhu.
About 48 years ago, the Dhaka University authorities were supposed to award Bangabandhu with the degree in presence of Bangabandhu himself at a convocation at that time.
Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, who was also chancellor of Dhaka University at that time, was scheduled to attend the convocation on August 15 in 1975.
The university authorities had completed all the preparations to hold the convocation and confer the ‘Doctor of Laws’ degree to the architect of the nation. However, before the dawn, Bangabandhu, along with most of his family members, was assassinated at Dhanmondi-32.
Dr. Mohammed Farashuddin, a former governor of Bangladesh Bank who served as the private secretary to Bangabandhu from 1973 to 1975, on Sunday told the Bangladesh Post that the Dhaka University authorities expelled Bangabandhu once but they were going to award him an a honorary ‘Doctor of Laws’ degree in 1975. The degree was supposed to be conferred at the convocation in the morning on August 15 of that year. However, after the assassination of Bangabandhu in the early hours of the day, the convocation did not take place and the ‘Doctor of Laws’ degree was not awarded, he added.
According to Dr. Mohammed Farashuddin, Bangabandhu also went over the draft of the speech he would deliver at the convocation. In the previous evening, the-then Education Minister Professor Muzaffar Ahmad Chowdhury and the Acting Additional Secretary of the Ministry of Education came to Bangabandhu and discussed the following day’s event. The-then Dhaka University Vice-Chancellor Professor Abdul Matin Chowdhury also came to Bangabandhu and briefed him on his visit to Dhaka University.
The Dhaka University authorities had planned an elaborate event at the Teachers-Students Centre (TSC) for the day while a special supplement titled ‘Dacca University: A special supplement on the occasion of the August visit of the president and the chancellor’ was published in national newspapers to mark the occasion.
The-then Vice-President of the country Syed Nazrul Islam and Prime Minister M Monsur Ali were supposed to accompany Bangabandhu during his visit to the university.
The entire DU campus wore a festive look with colourful decorations put up to welcome the-then sitting president and the Father of the Nation.
Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman had the plan to visit Jagannath Hall first and then go to the Central Shaheed Minar. Afterwards, he was supposed to go to the TSC and attend the convocation programme.
Bangabandhu was also supposed to visit the University Laboratory School and the DU’s physics department. He was scheduled to place wreaths at the graveyard of martyrs located in the area adjacent to the university’s central mosque.
After attending the convocation programme, Bangabandhu was also supposed to visit the museum of the sociology department as Sheikh Kamal was studying there.
Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman was a student of the Law Department of Dhaka University. He was once expelled from the university for voicing his support for the underpaid employees.
Sheikh Mujibur Rahman had enrolled at the university in 1948. On March 26 in 1949, the DU executive council expelled him and four other students on charges of ‘instigating’ a movement launched by grade IV employees demanding a raise in salaries and allowances.
He was a second-year student at that time and he had extended his support for the demonstrating staff of the university to realize their demands.The Dhaka University authorities withdrew the expulsion 61 years later, on August 14 in 2010.