Md. Rahad Ali Sarkar, Maritime University Representative:
Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Maritime University, the country's 37th public and only public university dealing with maritime affairs, has been renamed 'Bangladesh Maritime University'.
A gazette in this regard has been published today, February 13. According to the gazette, the name 'Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Maritime University, Bangladesh' has been changed to 'Bangladesh Maritime University'. Along with this, the English name has also been revised to 'Bangladesh Maritime University'.
The news of the name change was met with joy among the students. The students expressed their joy and greeted the Vice-Chancellor of the university, Rear Admiral Ashraful Haque Chowdhury, with flowers and sweets.
Earlier, after the July-August uprising, when the situation changed on August 5, there was a call to change the names of all institutions bearing the names of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and his family in order to erase all traces of the dictatorial period. In view of this, last month, Advisor Asif Mahmud Sajeeb Bhuiyan and Advisor Asif Nazrul published a list of new names by changing the names of 13 universities bearing the name of the Sheikh family in their Facebook status.
Maritime University students have long demanded that the university's name be changed to make it shorter and easier to understand. Taking this demand into account, the government has amended the university law and approved the new name.
The university administration, teachers, students and all concerned are happy with this change. Being the only maritime university in Bangladesh, they believe that the new name will facilitate the university's recognition in the international arena and will play an important role in the expansion of research and education in the maritime sector.
