Dhaka, May 9 (bdnews24.com) – A Dhaka court issued a warrant to arrest former Vice Chancellor of the Bangladesh Open University Professor Ershadul Bari on Wednesday in a case filed over distortion of the nation's history in college textbooks.
Magistrate Kamrunnahar Rumi of Chief Metropolitan Magistrate's Court, Dhaka, issued the warrant as Prof Bari repeatedly ignored summons.
The other nine accused in the case, filed by Dhaka University Pro-Vice Chancellor Prof Harun-or-Rashid on Mar 4 this year, are on bail now.
In the case, the plaintiff said he along with Prof Shawakat Ara Hossain, the chairman of the political science department of the university, had written Civics Part-2 for higher secondary students of the university in 2000.
The book had been reprinted in 2002, 2005 and 2009 with distorted history of the Liberation War, he said. The writers had not been informed about it, he added.
The plaintiff said the words, 'the Father of the Nation', that had been before the name of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman in a chapter on the Liberation War in the book, were dropped in the reprint.
The name of Sheikh Mujib as the proclaimer of independence had been replaced by the name of BNP founder Ziaur Rahman in the book, he said.
The Non-cooperation Movement, Mujibnagar Government and the historic speech Sheikh Mujib had delivered on Mar 7 1971 were presented in a distorted manner, he further alleged.
On Mar 1, the High Court had summoned six people, including Prof Rashid, following a writ petition filed over the issue. Hearing the petition and the respondents, the High Court had ordered Prof Harun to file the case.
The other accused in the case are BOU Prof R I M Aminur Rashid, former acting VCs Prof M Farid Ahmed and Prof Ruhul Amin Akand, Director of Printing and Publication Department Dr Fazle Ali, Chairman of BBA Programme of Bangladesh Islamic University Dr Arshad Ali Matubbar, Prof Mohammad Abdur Rahim of Islamic Studies Department of BOU, former lecturer of BOU and present lecturer of International Relations Department of Chittagong University Mohammad Kamal Uddin and lecturer of Islamic Studies Department of BOU Mohammad Kutub Uddin.
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