Bangladesh To Remove Chapters On Founding Father Mujibur Rahman From Textbooks: Report

Six texts and proses on Mujibur Rahman, Hasina's father and the iconic figure behind the founding of the country, will be dropped from English textbooks of classes six to nine.

Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman with Bangladesh Air Force.

Source : Bangladesh Air Force

Months after the ouster of Sheikh Hasina as Bangladesh Prime Minister, the textbooks in primary and secondary educational institutions will remove content related to Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. 

The content related to Rahman will be removed from both Bangla and English textbooks. Six texts and proses on Mujibur Rahman, Hasina's father and the iconic figure behind the founding of the country, will be dropped from English textbooks of classes six to nine, according to The Daily Star. 

In Bangla textbooks, three proses and poems on Bangabandhu will be dropped from textbooks of classes 6 and 7. 

Meanwhile, the National Curriculum and Textbook Board (NCTB) will include the content on the student-led mass uprising in the Bangla and English textbooks for classes from five to nine, the report said quoting sources.

Apart from Mujibur Rehman, content on Bengali leader Maulana Abdul Hamid Khan Bhashani, who emerged as a leader of marginalised peasants during the British rule, and Titumir, Bengali revolutionary in British India, will be removed from the class six Bangla textbook. 

"Exaggerated contents about Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman are being removed from the textbooks. One leader, one country -- that's not what it is. There were other leaders, such as Sher-e-Bangla AK Fazlul Huq, Maulana Bhashani, and Ziaur Rahman, and there is no scope to underestimate their contributions," NCTB Chairman Prof AKM Reazul Hassan told The Daily Star.

However, some chapters on Bangabandhu, including the 1969 mass uprising, the 1970 election, and the March 7 speech in 1971, will remain in the textbooks, Hassan added.

The fresh move of removing content on Mujibur Rehman comes weeks after Bangladesh began the process of erasing the image of the country's founder from its currency notes.

A Dhaka Tribune report said that Bangladesh Bank is printing new notes, including in them features of the student-led protests in July, which forced Sheikh Hasina to flee to India on August 5. The interim government also ordered the removal of the portrait of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman from president's office last month. 

During the July protest, the legacy of Rahman came under attack as protestors vandalised his statues and murals; and set fire to Bangabandhu Bhaban at Dhanmondi 32.