Bangladesh sought to re-write its history as the new textbooks for primary and secondary students placed former military ruler Ziaur Rehman as the leader who declared the country’s independence in 1971, according to media reports on Friday.
Reports in the Indian and Bangladeshi media said that the new curriculum dethroned Mujibur Rahman as the ‘father of the nation’. It said that the late Zia, who was an army officer and later fought against Pakistan, had actually declared the independence.
Quoting Prof AKM Reazul Hassan, chairman of the National Curriculum and Textbook Board, Dhaka’s Daily Star newspaper reported that several changes had been made in the textbooks for the 2025 academic year.
The paper said that the new textbooks would 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 [Mujib]”.
The move came after the ouster of Mujib’s daughter Sheikh Hasina as prime minister on August 5. Mujib’s statues and murals bearing his image were targeted as his daughter fled to India after massive public revolt.
