Abdul Mannan:

On 1st. of July Dhaka University celebrated its 100th anniversary. As the country along with rest of world is going through a devastating pandemic, killing thousands of people, the Centenary Celebration was a bit lacklustre and token excepting few alumni publishing some commentaries in some national dailies and a handful coming to talk on TV and arranging few webinars. The Vice-chancellor and his colleagues also planted few saplings to mark this historic occasion. One hundred years of existence of a university in a country like Bangladesh is definitely an occasion to be proud of. For my generation it is more so because as a student we could also experience Golden Jubilee of the University in 1971 but as the country was inching towards the Liberation War there wasn’t much scope for any celebration, excepting DUCSU publishing a twelve page tabloid sized bulletin. There were few seminars at TSC.

A university is not about nice buildings or tastefully trimmed lawns and number of departments or faculties or even the size of student population. A university is about its contribution to the society; it is about the depth of merit of its faculty members; it is about the quality of the researchers and research outcomes and students who have made such contributions and its position in the society. Calcutta (now Kolkata) University, one of the first three universities in this sub-continent established in 1857 which is also considered as the first multidisciplinary and Western-style institution in Asia produced an extraordinary two volumes of articles, information and speeches by some illustrious people in 1957. The centenary publication was titled as ‘Hundred Years of University of Calcutta’. I am not sure if any such publication was produced by Dhaka University though Pandemic should not have been an excuse for not publishing anything of that sort (I am not aware of any such publication). Professor Serajul Islam Choudhury of English Department (now Professor Emeritus) in 1988 compiled the Convocation Speeches of Dhaka University in two volumes and they were published by the University. The University authorities should at least have updated the publication and reproduced them.

The establishment of Dhaka University is thought as compensation to the Muslims for the annulment of the Partition of Bengal in 1911. In the Convocation address to the graduates of 1922, the Governor of Bengal and the Chancellor of the University of Dhaka, Lord Lytton, expressed that ‘in my opinion this University is Dacca’s greatest possession, and in my opinion this University will do more than anything else to increase and spread the fame of Dacca beyond the limits of Bengal or even of India itself’. (Chancellor’s Convocation Address, 22 February, 1923). Hundred years later Dhaka University definitely is one of the greatest possessions of not only of Dhaka but also of Bangladesh. However its fame as an academic institution of excellence has faded years back. Unfortunately the university no longer can take pride in its scholarly achievements, with few exceptions, no longer the university usually values meritocracy and often mediocrity surpasses meritocracy, both in administration and academic spheres of the University. But one thing must be acknowledged that this is perhaps the only university in the world which has played a very important role in the establishment of an independent nation. From the language movement of 1952, the education movement of 1962, the anti-Ayub movement of 1967-69 and the Liberation War of 1971, Dhaka University has played roles which can be seen as unique in the world. Even in the post liberation Bangladesh it were the students of Dhaka University that spearheaded the anti-Ershad movement of the nineties.

Fame of some universities is built around its faculty members and some faculty members are known for where they serve. However, before we discuss about the faculty members or its students we must mention the name of few persons who played very important roles in the establishment of Dhaka (then Dacca) University. They are Syed Nawab Ali Chowdhury (1863-1929) the Nawab of Dhanbari of Tangail, one of the founders of Dhaka University. He was the first Minister (education) of united Bengal. He along with Nawab Salimullah and few other Muslim politicians including Sher-e-Bangla A K Fazlul Haq on a number of occasions met the then viceroy of Bengal and lobbied for establishment of a university in Dacca. Finally a decision was made to establish a university in Dacca though a section of gentry of Bengal opposed the decision of establishment of a university in Dacca. On 1st July, 1921 with three faculties, Arts, Science and Law and twelve teaching departments Dacca University began functioning with a teaching staff of sixty members. To begin with the university enrolled 877 students in total. The university inherited the old buildings of the Dhaka College and greater portion of the buildings and estate of the Ramna area which were earlier created by the government of Bengal after the Partition of Bengal and Assam. It is said that the University of Dhaka occupied a site more splendid than that of any modern university in Great Britain. The then Governor General of India Lord Chelmsford appointed Mr P J Hartog, the Academic Registrar of the University of London as the first Vice-chancellor of the University of Dhaka with effect from 1st December 1920  for a five year term with a salary of Rs. 4000/- and a free furnished house. Initially the biggest challenge of Mr Hartog was getting qualified teaching staff. For the first appointments ten Selection Committees were formed comprising of distinguished scholars from India and England. The recruitments were primarily made from different colleges of Bengal and few also came from the Calcutta University. While recruiting teaching staff no comprise was made in terms of their scholarship and merit and no discrimination was made because of religious faith. Scholars like A N Waheed (Islamic Studies), Mahamahopadyaya Haraprasad Shastri, Radha Govinda Basak, Muhammad Shahidullah (Dr. Shahidullah), Nalini Kanta Bhattasali joined Department of Bangla and Sanskrit. Professor G H Langley formerly of the Dhaka College took the responsibility of building up the Philosophy Department. However, the richest department in terms of teaching staff perhaps was the department of History which could manage to recruit such scholars as Dr. Ramesh Chandra Majumder (later Vice-chancellor), Dr. Kalika Ranjan Kanungo and Professor Susobhan Chandra Sarkar . One of the most illustrious scholars to have joined the Department of Physics was Professor Satyendra Nath Bose (famed for Bose Einstein condensate theory) and Professor Quazi Motahar Hossain. The Department of Chemistry was headed by Dr. Jnan Chandra Ghosh who came from Calcutta University. Father of Noble Laureate Amartya Sen Mr Ashutosh Sen also taught chemistry. The Sen family originally lived in Wari of Dhaka before moving to Visva-Bharati at Santiniketan. There were many such scholars who made Dhaka University proud. To recruit and retain qualified teachers the Dhaka University would often take some extraordinary measures. Dr. J C Ghosh, Professor of Chemistry, asked for a big sum of money from the University to pay of his debts to Calcutta University. The Executive Council (current day syndicate) granted him this amount and resolved ‘That Rs. 10,700 be paid to Dr. J C Ghosh to pay off his debt to the Calcutta University and the sum be debited to the annual capital expenditure of the University provided that Dr. Ghosh gives understanding that he will remain in service of the University for a period of five years, and his scale of salary remains unaffected.’ The Executive Council also granted leave on duty to Professor A F Rahman, Reader in History, to enable him to attend the meetings of the Bengal Legislative Council, to which he was elected a Member from the Dhaka University Constituency. In later years came Professors P B Junnarkar, Mukarram Hussain Khundkar,  S K De, A H Dani, Abdul Razzak, Abdul Karim, Nurul Islam, Rehman  Sobhan, Ahmed Sharif,  A G Stock, G C Dev, Serajul Islam Choudhury, Harun-ur Rashid, Abdul Hye, Nazmul Karim, Munir Chowdhury, Kabir Chowdhuy, Rafiqul Islam, Abdul Hye, Anisuzzaman, Muzaffar Ahmed Chowdhury, Sardar Fazlul Karim, Abdullah Faroukh, Jotirmoy Guha Thakurta, Anwar Pasha, Giasuddin Ahmed and many more whose academic contribution made Dhaka University what it was at that period. In 1971 Pakistan army and the Al-Badars, the storm troopers of Jamaat-e-Islami killed at least twenty brilliant scholar faculty members of Dhaka University.

The University can feel proud of having Dr. R C Majumdr, Dr. Mahmud Hasan, Dr. W A Jenkin, Justice Muhammad Ibrahim, Dr. Mahmud Hossain, Justice Abu Syed Chowdhury, Dr. Abdul Matin Chowdhury, Dr. Fazlul Halim Chowdhury, Professor A K Azad Chowdhury and many others like them who made the university proud by their leadership and vision. Unfortunately the University no longer produces Vice-chancellors of such quality. They were not only visionary academic leaders; they were also persons who could motivate students and scholars alike to be good scholars, worthwhile researchers, visionary leaders and good human beings. The scholars who came to teach in the University or become Administrators were the people who made Dhaka University what it is today. The University had a golden past and unfortunately have an uncertain future as of now. The university has grown in size and shape but perhaps failed to keep pace with other similar academic institutions even in the region.  The University perhaps has expanded beyond its capacity. It is currently a teaching university and research no longer seems to be in its priority list except in science and social faculties. The dream of most of the students stops at being BCS officers and not beyond that.  Waiting for better days to come. Happy Birth Day Dhaka University, my Alma Mater.

The writer is an analyst and a commentator