Khabor Wala Desk
Published: 15th June 2026, 2:14 PM
Serious allegations of deception have emerged against Abu Sadik Kayem, Vice-President of the Dhaka University Central Students’ Union (DUCSU), and Hasnat Abdullah, Chief Organiser of the National Citizens’ Party (NCP). The duo allegedly misrepresented a privately hired session at the historic Oxford Union Society debating chamber as an official, institutional invitation from the University of Oxford.
On Sunday, 14 June 2026, both individuals participated in a panel discussion titled “The Student-Led Uprising and the Future of Post-Revolutionary Bangladesh”. Following the event, the speakers heavily publicised their attendance on social media as an official academic honour. However, subsequent investigations into the Oxford Union’s booking records have exposed these assertions as entirely fabricated.
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An analysis of the official Oxford Union Society website (oxford-union.org) confirms that the institution operates a dedicated ‘Private Hire’ department. Under the room hire regulations, the historic Debating Chamber is explicitly categorised as a commercial space available to any private individual or external organisation for social or corporate functions.
The official venue specifications clarify the terms of availability:
Public Access: Neither enrolment at the University of Oxford nor formal membership of the Oxford Union Society is required to secure a booking.
Hourly Rates: The Debating Chamber is designated as a “dry hire venue”, letting out space on an hourly basis with a mandatory minimum booking duration of two hours.
Operational Control: Renting parties are fully responsible for their own technical arrangements, event management, and internal coordination.
The discrepancy was brought to light by author and researcher Mohiuddin Mohammad, who actively investigated the claims after notices surfaced across social media platforms. To demonstrate the purely commercial nature of the venue, Mohammad successfully completed a parallel booking under a fictitious entity named the “Mohiuddin Mohammad Fan Club UK”.
Mohammad secured the identical Debating Chamber for an upcoming slot on 13 August 2026, spanning from 15:00 to 19:00. The transaction required a venue hire fee of £2,048 (approximately 338,000 Bangladeshi Taka). Upon payment, the Oxford Union issued a standard, automated reservation confirmation under the reference number R19721053, proving that access to the chamber is dictated by financial transactions rather than academic merit.
Despite this, both speakers posted deceptive updates on their respective digital platforms. Inside the first six seconds of a video statement published to his official Facebook page, Abu Sadik Kayem explicitly stated:
“I have come here at the invitation of Oxford University.”
Concurrently, the verified Facebook page of Hasnat Abdullah broadcasted event footage under the misleading title, “Hasnat Abdullah at the Historic Seminar Room on the Invitation of the Oxford Union”, causing widespread misinformation among followers.
In response to a formal email inquiry containing four specific questions from researcher Mohiuddin Mohammad, the Oxford Union administration and university representatives clarified the matter via written and telephonic correspondence. The authorities explicitly confirmed that the panel discussion was organized strictly in a private capacity through a standard commercial lease. The institution extended no official invitations, nor did it maintain any administrative involvement in the proceedings.
Furthermore, the Oxford Union management issued a strict warning regarding the situation. The administration stated that if external clients falsely project private commercial room hire as a formal institutional endorsement or official invitation, the matter will be thoroughly investigated. Such actions could result in the individuals being permanently blacklisted from the venue alongside potential legal recourse.
Expatriate Bangladeshi students currently enrolled at the University of Oxford noted that genuine university-sanctioned events are invariably published within official institutional calendars, promoted on verified social media handles, and circulated to the student body via internal university email networks. No such notices or institutional promotions were generated for the 14 June panel discussion. Student representatives warned that fabricating academic invitations out of private commercial arrangements severely undermines the international credibility of Bangladeshi scholars and tarnishes the global image of the nation.
| Feature / Metric | Official Institutional Event | The 14 June Panel Discussion |
| Primary Access Route | Merit-based official academic invitation | Standard commercial venue lease (“Private Hire”) |
| Financial Cost | Funded or sponsored by the University/Union | Paid via private rental fees (e.g., £2,048 base rate) |
| Minimum Booking Requirement | Determined by institutional scheduling | Mandatory minimum block of 2 hours |
| Official Calendar Inclusion | Listed on verified websites and student portals | Completely absent from official university schedules |
| Institutional Affiliation | Fully endorsed by university faculties | Zero official involvement or administrative oversight |
| Authority Sanctions | Supported by university public relations | Subject to blacklisting and potential legal action |
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