Expert committee recommends removal of Sharifa’s Story from textbooks for ‘inconsistencies’

The story, intended as an awareness lesson about the Hijra community, led to controversy for its inclusion in a Class VII textbook

An expert committee has recommended the Ministry of Education remove the controversial Sharifa’s Story from Class VII textbooks.

Sharifa’s Story was included as a public awareness lesson about the Hijra community in the history and social science books under the new curriculum.

In January, Asif Mahtab Utsha, a part-time teacher at BRAC University, caused controversy when he tore out the pages containing the story from a textbook during a protest, saying that it promoted homosexuality.

Amid the controversy, the Ministry of Education formed a five-member committee of high-level experts to consider the story’s inclusion in the textbook.

Islamic Foundation Governor Mufti Kafiluddin Sarkar Salehi, a member of the committee, said, “We have found many inconsistencies in the story. For that reason, we have recommended its removal.”

“We have sent our recommendation to the Ministry of Education that the issue be removed from the textbook.”

bdnews24.com contacted three members of the committee to ask exactly what ‘inconsistencies’ the story was being removed for. None of them agreed to give their opinion.

Sharifa’s Story was included in the textbook in a chapter exploring the similarities and differences between people.

Asif Mahtab, who was sacked from his post as a part-time teacher at the Department of Philosophy at BRAC University, stirred a heated debate when he claimed the story promoted homosexuality and transsexualism.

However, according to Abul Momen, in charge of editing the essay included in the seventh grade history and social science books, while there are many arguments over issues of transgender and third gender people, the textbook provided information that children would be able to understand.

“Our main objective is inclusion,” he said. “The inclusion of religious minorities, people from various professions, or other minorities who are marginalised in our society.”