DU Student Detained for Playing Sheikh Mujib’s 7 March Speech

A Dhaka University student was taken into custody by police on Saturday (7 March) afternoon after allegedly playing Sheikh Mujibur Rahman’s historic 7 March 1971 speech through a sound box in the Chanmkharpul area adjacent to the university campus.

The detained student, Asif Ahmed, is a resident of Shahidullah Hall and a student of the 2018-19 academic session in the Department of Physics.

Eyewitnesses said Asif was playing the speech—particularly the famous portion “Ebarer sangram amader muktir sangram, ebarer sangram swadhinatar sangram” (“The struggle this time is a struggle for emancipation, the struggle this time is a struggle for independence”)—when police arrived. After a brief exchange, officers took him to Shahbagh Police Station in a CNG-run auto-rickshaw. The sound box operator and owner were also taken to the station, and the equipment was seized.

Shahbagh Police Officer-in-Charge (OC) Md. Moniruzzaman confirmed the detention. He said: “He was playing Bangabandhu’s 7 March speech. That is prohibited, which is why he was brought in.”

When asked if any formal complaint had been lodged, the OC replied: “A complaint is being filed, that’s why he was brought to the station.”

Regarding next steps, he added: “That will be our decision. You’re asking for a decision so quickly—how can I give it right now? We just brought him in. We will decide after discussion with the relevant authorities. If you ask ‘what have you done’ the moment we bring someone in, how can we answer? We will take a decision and then inform.”

The incident occurred on the 55th anniversary of Sheikh Mujib’s landmark speech at Ramna Race Course (now Suhrawardy Udyan), which is widely regarded as the decisive call to the Bengali nation for independence and is inscribed in UNESCO’s Memory of the World Register.