DU student held over playing Sheikh Mujib’s 7th March speech

A Dhaka University (DU) student and a sound operator were arrested on Saturday over playing Sheikh Mujibur Rahman’s historic 7 March speech through a sound system at Chankharpul intersection.

The detained student, Asif Ahmed, is a 2018–19 session student of DU’s Physics Department and a resident of Shahidullah Hall. Police also seized the sound box used during the incident.

Eyewitnesses said the speech was being played when several police officers arrived at the scene. An argument ensued between the officers and the student before the sound system was confiscated and both individuals were taken into custody.

Shahbagh Police Station officer-in-charge (OC) Mohammad Moniruizzaman confirmed the arrest. “They were playing Bangabandhu’s 7 March speech. This is banned, so they were brought in,” he said.

When asked whether any formal complaint had been filed, the OC replied, “Complaints are being filed. That’s why he was brought in.”

Regarding the next steps, the OC said, “That will be our decision. We’ve just brought them in; we’ll decide after discussing with senior officials. You’ve just arrived and are asking ‘what did you do?’ How can I answer that? Let us decide first.”

The arrest has raised questions about restrictions on playing the 7th March speech, which Sheikh Mujibur Rahman delivered at Dhaka’s Racecourse Ground (now Suhrawardy Udyan) in 1971 ahead of country’s Liberation War.

NRE/SH