3 January 2024 | Dhaka, Bangladesh
A group of Islamist students at the University of Dhaka, organising under the identity of “general students” rather than the banner of a particular student organisation, staged a sit-in demonstration at the university’s Raju Memorial Sculpture on 3 January 2024. They demanded that the term “transgender” be removed from the admission notice for the 2023–2024 academic year and that the quota be retained specifically for Hijra students. The demonstration followed an ultimatum issued at a press conference on 30 December, when the students demanded that the university administration publish a revised admission notice by 1 January. After the demand was not implemented within the deadline, they returned to public protest. During the sit-in, participants displayed placards carrying slogans including “2024, withdraw transgender,” “What do DU students want? Elimination of the trans term,” and demands for amendment of the admission notice.
During the programme, Muntasir Ahmed Muad, a student from the 2018–2019 academic session of the Department of Arabic, objected to the use of the term “transgender” and presented it as a concept foreign to Bangladeshi language and culture. He claimed that the term did not appear in the Bangla Academy dictionary and questioned its inclusion in the university’s admission notice. Mosaddeq Ali Ibn Muhammad also spoke at the demonstration, stating that the protesters did not oppose an admission quota for the Hijra community but objected to transgender people being recognised under the same provision. He rejected the legitimacy of transgender identities, used derogatory language concerning gender transition and alleged that including transgender people within the quota could deprive Hijra students of educational opportunities. He also associated transgender recognition with homosexuality and claimed that recognition through university policy would encourage social practices he opposed. These statements represented the positions and allegations expressed by the protesting students.
The campaign developed after the University of Dhaka included a reserved admission category identified as “Transgender/Hijra” in its undergraduate admission notice for the 2023–2024 academic year. On 21 December, a group of students organised a human chain opposing the inclusion of transgender people in the quota and submitted a memorandum to Vice-Chancellor Professor A. S. M. Maksud Kamal. On 30 December, students subsequently held a press conference and gave the university administration until 1 January to remove the term. The vice-chancellor had earlier explained that the provision was intended primarily for Hijra applicants rather than people who had undergone medical gender transition, but the protesters continued to demand the complete removal of the word “transgender” from the admission notice. During the 3 January sit-in, Mosaddeq Ali Ibn Muhammad announced another mass sit-in at Raju Memorial Sculpture for 4 January and called on university students and their guardians to participate.
References
Dhaka Times — Report on the protest demanding removal of “transgender” from the Dhaka University admission notice (3 January 2024)
The Daily Campus — ট্রান্সজেন্ডার শব্দ সরানোর দাবিতে ঢাবিতে গণ-অবস্থানের ঘোষণা (3 January 2024)
Desh Rupantor — ‘ট্রান্সজেন্ডার’ শব্দ বাতিলের দাবিতে অবস্থান কর্মসূচি (3 January 2024)
Dhaka Post — ঢাবির ভর্তি বিজ্ঞপ্তি থেকে ‘ট্রান্সজেন্ডার’ শব্দ অপসারণের দাবি (30 December 2023)
