Bangladesh's new textbooks claim Khaleda Zia's husband declared independence, not Mujib
According to the report, the new textbooks have also removed the title "Father of the Nation" for Mujibur Rahman.
Bangladesh has now introduced new textbooks stating that Ziaur Rahman, the deceased husband of Bangladesh Nationalist Party chief Khaleda Zia, declared the country's independence in 1971.
The new textbooks for the 2025 academic session will replace the existing ones crediting Awami League founder Sheikh Mujibur Rahman with the declaration, Bangladesh's The Daily Star reported.
Since 2010, the textbooks under Sheikh Hasina's rule had stated that her father Sheikh Mujibur Rahman declared independence via wireless message before being arrested by the Pakistan Army on February 26, 1971.
According to the report, the new textbooks have also removed the title "Father of the Nation" for Mujibur Rahman.
Prof AKM Reazul Hassan, chairman of the National Curriculum and Textbook Board, said that the new textbooks will state that “on March 26, 1971, Ziaur Rahman declared the independence of Bangladesh, and on March 27, he made another declaration of independence on behalf of Bangabandhu.”
The information has been included in the free textbooks where the matter of the declaration was mentioned, he added.
According to the paper, writer and researcher Rakhal Raha, who was involved in the process of making changes in the textbooks, said they tried to free the textbooks from "exaggerated, imposed history".
"Those who revised the textbooks found that it wasn't fact-based information that Sheikh Mujibur Rahman sent the wireless message [declaring independence] while being arrested by the Pakistani army, and so they decided to remove it."
Earlier, in the textbooks of classes one to 10, the information on who made the Declaration of Independence was changed according to the government in power, the paper claimed.
The supporters of Awami League believed that Sheikh Mujibur Rahman made the announcement and Ziaur Rahman, who was an Army major and later a sector commander of the Liberation War, “merely read out the declaration upon Mujib's instructions.”
Bangladesh's bid to remove Mujib's legacy
After Sheikh Hasina fled Bangladesh on August 5, those protesting against her regime attacked statues and murals linked to her father, revered for years as ‘Bangabandhu’.
Earlier, Bangladesh decided to start the process of erasing the image of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman from its currency notes as it phases out the old notes, PTI reported.
The interim government also cancelled a national holiday on August 15, marking the assassination of Mujibur Rahman.
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