DHAKA: The University of Dhaka eventually withdrew the expulsion of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman after 61 years, when the country’s independence leader is no more.

A special Syndicate meeting of the university Saturday took the decision unanimously, DU officials said.

Prior to the meeting, Vice-chancellor AAMS Arefin Siddique told banglanews24.com.bd that the Syndicate was going to sit in a special session with the lone agenda of restoring the studentship of the leader posthumously. “Dhaka University will be honoured with the withdrawal of the expulsion order,” he said.

After it was done, VC Arefin Siddique told journalists at a press conference that the expulsion decision against Bangabandhu was an injustice as the then University authority did not give him chance of self-defense. “In doing that the authority violated the law that guarantees all citizens’ rights.”

About the significance of the decision he said, “As Bangabandhu’s movement was for democracy, justice and establishing the rule of law, so the establishment of democracy and the rule of law moved one step forward through the decision.”

Prof. Dr Akhtaruzzaman, a leading Syndicate member, told the journalists, “The withdrawal of Sheikh Mujib’s expulsion is rational as he did movement for establishing democracy and justice in society.”

Syndicate member Prof Sadrul Amin said, “The expulsion was unjust and undemocratic. It should have been withdrawn much earlier.”

The then authorities had expelled temporarily five students, including Bangabandhu, on March 26 in 1949 for their involvement in a movement by class-4 employees of the university.

And they were given conditions that they should pay a fine of Tk 15 and furnish individually a guarantee of good conduct endorsed by their guardians in the prescribed form to the Provost concerned on or before the 17th of April.

The four other students got back studentship on fulfilling the conditions, but a defiant Sheikh Mujib refused to give the undertaking.

And, at long last, the liberation-war leader got the liberty on the eve of the 35th anniversary of his assassination.     
 
The four others were Kalyanchandra Dasgupta, 1st year MA, Naimuddin Ahmed, 2nd year LLB, Nadera Begum, 1st year MA, and Muhammad Abdul Wadud, 1st year BA.

BDST: 1530 HRS, AUG 14, 2010