Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman deleted from Qawmi history book

Bangladesh Qawmi Madrasa Education Board (Befaq) is defying the High Court order confirming the universally known fact that Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman proclaimed Bangladesh's independence from Pakistan in 1971.

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.

 

The High Court on Jun 21, 2009 ruled that Sheikh Mujibur Rahman proclaimed Bangladesh's independence.

The verdict said those who were involved in distortion of history violated the Constitution and the government could take punitive measures against them.

When asked, Befaq Secretary General Abdul Jabbar Jahanbadi declined to comment directly on the High Court ruling.

He, however, believed that declaring Bangabandhu as the proclaimer of independence ‘by law’ was a mere ‘deception’.

“The government law that decrees Sheikh Mujib the proclaimer of independence is bogus. This should not happen,” he told bdnews24.com.

“Ziaur Rahman proclaimed independence - I support this (view). He has been consciously named as the proclaimer of independence.”

Jabbar, who is involved with the movements of Hifazat-e Islam, claimed Sheikh Mujib did not think of independence; Mawlana Abdul Hamid Khan Bhashani floated the idea.

“It is Zia who proclaimed independence. He (Sheikh Mujib) was in Pakistani jail, where did he declare (independence)?”

He, however, admitted that Sheikh Mujib had made great contributions to Bangladesh’s independence.