In the textbooks of the board, Ziaur Rahman is stated to have declared independence, leaving the Qawmi students removed from the true history and exposed to wrong interpretations.
The distortion of history has been found in textbooks of different grades under the non-government authority.
While the government has long been publishing textbooks up to Grade XII, the English medium and Qawmi streams of education remained beyond the purview.
Befaq publishes the textbooks for the students enrolled at the institutions under the body.
Befaq says it put the name of Zia since it has reservations about accepting that the nation’s founding father Mujib had proclaimed independence.
About two million students read in 5,002 Qawmi madrasas across Bangladesh, according to the board statistics.
‘Birth of independent Bangladesh’ essay in Grade V history book says the people were at a loss to know what to do when Sheikh Mujibur Rahman was arrested and taken to Pakistan as the history’s largest massacre started at the midnight of Mar 25, 1971.
During the turbulent time, it reads, Major Ziaur Rahman declared independence from Chittagong’s Kalurghat Radio Station on Mar 27. His announcement inspired the people of Bengal to wage the Liberation War.
The essay does not mention Sheikh Mujib as Bangabandhu or the Father of the Nation.
It also gives no information about the number of martyrs.
Moreover, the history books of Qawmi students do not have any piece on Bangladesh’s history or tradition.