{"id":7091,"date":"2026-01-19T07:56:15","date_gmt":"2026-01-19T07:56:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/hernet.news\/?p=7091"},"modified":"2026-01-19T07:56:15","modified_gmt":"2026-01-19T07:56:15","slug":"who-are-you-who-am-i-uranium-uranium-ducsu-charity-concert-draws-fire","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hernet.news\/?p=7091","title":{"rendered":"Who are You? Who am I? Uranium! Uranium! DUCSU Charity Concert Draws Fire"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A special charity concert titled \u201cKuashar Gaan,\u201d organized by the Dhaka University Central Students\u2019 Union (DUCSU) and Spirits of July at the university\u2019s central ground on Saturday, has sparked fierce debate after free cigarettes were reportedly distributed on-site and pro\u2013referendum slogans were raised from the stage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Attendees said a stall positioned behind the women\u2019s section on the left side of the stage handed out cigarettes at no cost\u2014prompting an online backlash from students who called it a clear breach of Bangladesh\u2019s tobacco control law. Under the <strong>Smoking and Tobacco Products (Control) Act, 2005 (amended 2013)<\/strong>:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Section 5(b) prohibits free distribution or discounted sales meant to induce purchase;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Section 5(g) bans sponsorships, donations, or event underwriting that promote tobacco use; violations can carry up to three months\u2019 imprisonment or fines up to Tk 100,000;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Section 6(b) forbids tobacco sales within 100 meters of educational institutions, hospitals, clinics, sports venues, and children\u2019s parks, punishable by a Tk 5,000 fine.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The controversy deepened when DUCSU Literary &amp; Cultural Secretary <strong>Mosaddiq Ali<\/strong> used his stage time to campaign for a referendum, triggering a volley of sardonic counter-chants from parts of the crowd.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Highlighted exchange from the crowd:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Mosaddiq: \u201cQuota or merit?\u201d<br>Crowd reply: \u201cQuota, quota.\u201d<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Mosaddiq: \u201cSubservience or reform?\u201d<br>Crowd reply: \u201cSubservience, subservience.\u201d<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Mosaddiq: \u201cCompromise or struggle?\u201d<br>Crowd reply: \u201cCompromise, compromise.\u201d<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Mosaddiq: \u201cWho are you, who am I?\u201d<br>Crowd reply: \u201cUranium, uranium.\u201d<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The concert featured performances by Shohojia, Avash, Habib Wahid, and Ashes and was billed as a fundraiser for winter relief. Despite positive reviews for the music, many students argued the event\u2019s messaging and the alleged tobacco giveaways overshadowed its charitable aim.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In a subsequent social-media post, Mosaddiq Ali Ibn Mohammad expressed regret over \u201coverall mismanagement\u201d and the cigarette-distribution incident, saying he was \u201csorry\u201d for the unintended outcome. Critics, however, urged DU authorities to investigate possible legal violations, review event vetting procedures, and enforce stricter guardrails on campus events\u2014particularly concerning public health compliance and political neutrality at student welfare programs.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A special charity concert titled \u201cKuashar Gaan,\u201d organized by the Dhaka University Central Students\u2019 Union (DUCSU) and Spirits of July at the university\u2019s central ground on Saturday, has sparked fierce debate after free cigarettes were reportedly distributed on-site and pro\u2013referendum slogans were raised from the stage. Attendees said a stall positioned behind the women\u2019s section [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":7093,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7091","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-5"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hernet.news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7091","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hernet.news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hernet.news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hernet.news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hernet.news\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=7091"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/hernet.news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7091\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7095,"href":"https:\/\/hernet.news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7091\/revisions\/7095"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hernet.news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/7093"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hernet.news\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=7091"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hernet.news\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=7091"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hernet.news\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=7091"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}