Musa wants 'Himalayan blunder' fixed

Dhaka, Oct 15 (bdnews24.com)— Musa Ibrahim, first Bangladeshi to conquer the Mount Everest, moved court on Monday seeking a ban on an essay book which mentions M A Muhith as the first Bangladeshi to scale the world's highest peak.

The case was filed in the court of Dhaka's Fifth Joint District Court judge Mohammad Saidur Rahman.

The plaintiff also sought an order to withdraw all the copies of the book and a ban on the edition until a 'corrected' version was reprinted.

According to case details, a collection of essays by Enam Al Haque titled 'Sokal Belar Pakhi', published by the Chandrabati Academy, describes M A Muhith as the first Bangladeshi to have conquered the Mount Everest.

Haque, also President of Bangla Mountaineering and Tracking Club (BMTA), Chief Editor of the collection Subal Kumar Banik, Advisory Editor Mahfuzur Rahman, Editor Rahim Shah, Guest Editor Shyamal Kanti Das, Editorial Assistant Arif Nazrul and Publisher Kamruzzaman Kazal have been accused in the case.

"I scaled Mount Everest as the first Bangladeshi and M A Muhith is the second person to perform the feat," Musa Ibrahim told bdnews24.com.

He alleged the writer of "intentionally distorting history" which according to him is "unjust".

Defending his move, Ibrahim said he had moved the court with an urge to ensure the future generations learned the "correct history".

"Wrong history has been written intentionally leaving me out. Innumerable people will learn the wrong history if the book is available in the market. It is grossly unjust," he said.

Barrister Abdullah Hel Baki represented the plaintiff in the hearing. He said an order would be passed in this regard later.

Enam's essay titled "Bangladesher Manush Aj Himalaye Uthe Dariyece" reads, "We formed Bangla Mountaineering and Tracking Club and planned a Himalayas expedition in 2003. In it (BMTC) there were many people including Musa, Muhith, Milon, Imran, Babu, Enam, Sagar, Saja and Sampa."

The essay does not mention Musa Ibrahim's conquest of the Everest, though the caption of an image of Muhith says he is the first Bangladeshi to scale the highest peak.

Chairman of Chandrabati Publications, which published the book, Advocate Debashish Deb said he would continue legal fight on behalf of the defendants.

"The writer of the essay said Musa Ibrahim did not in fact conquer the Everest and so the name of M A Muhith was written as the conqueror," he told bdnews24.com.

Musa scaled the world's highest peak on May 23, 2010 and Muhith performed the feat on May 21 the following year.

Their achievements were followed by Nishat Majumder conquering the Everest on May 19 this year as the first Bangladeshi woman to do so. Another Bangladeshi woman Wasfia Nazreen also climbed the world's highest peak within a week of Nishat's expedition.

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