In Search of Shonar Bangla

In December 2000, a professor of political science at Dhaka University (DU) proclaimed at a public gathering that the Bangladeshi national anthem should be changed. The remark caused an instant furor nationwide. Mass condemnation and calls to censure Aftab Ahmed, the professor, came from students, leading cultural activists and other prominent members of civil society. He was roundly denounced for making a comment that was, among other things, "derogatory, objectionable, anti-Independence, anti-state and deeply hurtful to the sentiments of the people."

Three days later, an emergency meeting of the University Syndicate placed the Ahmed on forced leave for three months. Angry students rampaged through the campus and set fire to his room in the political science department. The influential Ghatok Dalal Nirmul Jatiya Sammanya Committee (National Coordinating Committee to Resist Wartime Criminals and Collaborators) demanded that the university authorities expel Ahmed. Some student organisations demanded his expulsion because "he had lost every ground to be a teacher of Dhaka University, the birthplace of all progressive movements in the country". The following week, The Dhaka University Teachers' Association (DUTA) adopted a resolution to terminate immediately the membership of this 'errant' faculty member. The DUTA also called for Ahmed's expulsion from the DU faculty.