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The name ‘Shaheed Osman Hadi Hall’ is being removed from the main gate of Dhaka University’s Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Hall, with the original name being restored.
The hall administration began changing the name on the gate on Wednesday afternoon.
Efforts to contact the hall’s provost, Prof Dr Md Akhtaruzzaman, for comment were unsuccessful as he did not answer the phone.
Md Jaban Ali, senior administrative officer of the hall, said the name ‘Shaheed Osman Hadi Hall’ was being removed and replaced with ‘Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Hall’ following demands from students.
Asked whether the students had submitted any written application, he said, “We have not received any written application. They have been coming repeatedly and making verbal requests. Parents are becoming confused. Their certificates bear one name, while they are being told another name. Now only ‘Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Hall’ will be written.”
Earlier, on the night of December 20, 2025, the name of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman was removed from the hall’s main gate and replaced with ‘Shaheed Osman Hadi Hall’. Students made the change.
Earlier, leaders of the Dhaka University Central Students’ Union (DUCSU) had submitted a memorandum to the university vice-chancellor demanding that the hall be renamed.
Following their application, the university syndicate meeting on January 8 recommended changing the name of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Hall to ‘Shaheed Osman Hadi Hall’. It also recommended renaming Bangamata Sheikh Fazilatunnesa Mujib Hall as ‘Bir Protik Captain Sitara Begum Hall’.
However, at the Dhaka University Senate session held on June 29, no final decision was reached on changing the names of five university facilities named after members of the Sheikh family. Five DUCSU senate members then walked out of the session. The university subsequently announced that the proposal would be sent back to the syndicate for reconsideration.