Thu Jan 02 16:58:57 UTC 2025: ## Bangladesh Rewrites History in School Textbooks, Crediting Ziaur Rahman with Independence Declaration

**DHAKA, BANGLADESH** – A significant shift in Bangladesh’s historical narrative has taken place with the introduction of new textbooks for the 2025 academic year. These textbooks now credit Ziaur Rahman, the late husband of BNP chief Khaleda Zia, with declaring Bangladesh’s independence in 1971, a claim that contradicts the long-held narrative crediting Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, founder of the Awami League.

For over a decade, textbooks under the rule of Sheikh Hasina, daughter of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, attributed the independence declaration to Sheikh Mujibur Rahman via a wireless message sent before his arrest by the Pakistani army. The new textbooks, however, remove this account and the title “Father of the Nation” previously bestowed upon Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.

According to Prof. AKM Reazul Hassan, chairman of the National Curriculum and Textbook Board, the revised textbooks state that Ziaur Rahman declared independence on March 26, 1971, and made a further declaration on March 27 on behalf of Bangabandhu (Sheikh Mujibur Rahman). This information has been integrated into the free textbooks where the declaration is discussed.

The changes have been justified by textbook revisionists who claim they sought to remove “exaggerated, imposed history,” arguing that the account of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman’s wireless message was not fact-based. The previous practice of altering the account of the independence declaration based on the ruling government has also been criticized.

This move is likely to reignite a long-standing political debate. Supporters of the Awami League maintain that Sheikh Mujibur Rahman made the declaration, and Ziaur Rahman, then an army major and later a sector commander during the Liberation War, merely read it out.

The revision comes amidst a broader trend of diminishing the legacy of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. Previous actions include the phasing out of his image from currency notes and the cancellation of a national holiday commemorating his assassination. These actions have been viewed by some as an attempt to revise the official national narrative.

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