HC orders removal of book on Bangladesh Bank for ‘distorting history’

The High Court has ordered a book on Bangladesh Bank be withdrawn for distorting history.

The bench of Justice Md Ashfaqul Islam and Justice Mohammad Ali issued the order on Tuesday.

The court instructed authorities to be careful so that the book ‘Bangladesh Bank Er Itihash’ (History of Bangladesh Bank) does not end up in stores or the ongoing Amar Ekushey Book Fair.

The order followed the submission of an investigation report by a committee set up by the Ministry of Finance.

The committee noted that the book ‘distorted history’ when it used photos of former Pakistan president Ayub Khan and East Pakistan governor Monem Khan, while excluding Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.

The book’s editor Subhankar Saha has been summoned to the bench on Mar 12 to offer an explanation.

The central bank formed an advisory committee and an editorial committee when it decided to make the manuscript and publish the book in 2013 during the time of Governor Atiur Rahman.

The task of editing the book changed hands several times. The then spokesman for the bank and an executive director, Saha was finally given the job to edit it.

Before Saha, Mahafuzur Rahman, another spokesman and executive director, edited the book. Both have retired.

The book was published in December 2017 after the manuscript had been finalised.

Incumbent Governor Fazle Kabir launched it officially on Mar 25 last year. 

The daily Khola Kagoj in September published two reports saying autocrat Ayub Khan and “ghost of Pakistan” are in the book, but there is no mention of Bangabandhu, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and the Awami League government’s role.

The governor ordered a halt to distribution of the book on Sept 15 following criticism on the social media.

He also formed a committee headed by a deputy governor to edit the book again.

Meanwhile, Kazi Ertaza Hassan, an FBCCI director, filed a writ petition at the High Court attaching the reports.

The High Court on Oct 2 ordered the government to investigate the allegation of distortion of history in the book.

It also asked in a set of rules why distorting history by including photos of Ayub Khan and Monem Khan and dropping Bangabandhu’s image should not be declared beyond the legal authority of the publisher.

The committee headed by Additional Finance Secretary Md Zafar Uddin submitted the report on Monday.

The history of the 1971 Liberation War has been distorted in the second chapter and the book has no image of Bangabandhu, who named the central bank, according to the investigation report.

The argument that no photo of Bangabandhu related to the Bangladesh Bank was found is “unexpected and untoward”, it said.  অনাকাঙ্ক্ষিত ও অনভিপ্রেত।

The committee named six officials involved in publishing the book and said there was a lack of coordination between the panels formed for edit and research.

Lawyer ABM Altaf Hossain stood for the petitioner while Deputy Attorney General Al Amin Sarker represented the state in the hearing. Zobayer Rahman argued for the Bangladesh Bank.