Dhaka
Rewriting History
Bangladesh’s 2025 textbooks will credit Ziaur Rahman with declaring independence in 1971, omitting Sheikh Mujibur Rahman’s title as ‘Father of the Nation.’
Imagine a country where future generations are taught a history vastly different from their predecessors’ beliefs. In Bangladesh, this is becoming a reality. New textbooks for the 2025 academic year now claim that Ziaur Rahman — not ‘Bangabandhu’ Sheikh Mujibur Rahman — declared the country’s independence in 1971.
The revised curriculum also omits Sheikh Mujibur Rahman’s title of ‘Father of the Nation,’ signaling a significant shift in how the country’s liberation history is being framed.
“The new textbooks for the 2025 academic year will state that ‘on March 26, 1971, Ziaur Rahman declared the independence of Bangladesh, and on March 27, he made another declaration of independence on behalf of Bangabandhu,’” Prof. A.K.M. Reazul Hassan, chairman of the National Curriculum and Textbook Board, told the media.
Ziaur Rahman, the founder of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), was also the husband of Khaleda Zia, the current BNP chief. In contrast, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, widely regarded as the architect of Bangladesh’s liberation struggle, was the father of Sheikh Hasina, the recently ousted Prime Minister of Bangladesh.
This is not the first time Bangladesh’s textbooks have undergone politically motivated revisions.
The legacies of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and Ziaur Rahman have long been at the center of political contention, with the critical question of who declared Bangladesh’s creation remaining fiercely debated. The Awami League, the party that led the liberation struggle under Mujib’s leadership, asserts that it was ‘Bangabandhu’ Sheikh Mujibur Rahman who made the historic declaration. On the other hand, the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) credits its founder, Ziaur Rahman, with the proclamation.
As a result, Bangladesh’s official historical narrative has shifted depending on the ruling political regime in Dhaka. In 1978, during Ziaur Rahman’s tenure as Bangladesh’s President, official accounts were altered for the first time to credit him as the one who declared the nation’s independence. Since then, the country’s history books have been rewritten multiple times. A significant revision occurred after Sheikh Hasina assumed power in 2009. In 2010, the Bangladesh Supreme Court nullified the third volume of Bangladesh Independence War: Documents, originally published in 1978, which presented Ziaur Rahman as the proclaimer of independence.
The ousting of Sheikh Hasina, the daughter of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, as Prime Minister on August 5 marked a turning point in Bangladesh’s political landscape. Her removal, driven by a wave of popular agitation, was accompanied by a targeted assault on Mujib’s legacy. Statues and murals bearing Mujib’s image were defaced and destroyed as Hasina fled to India amidst the unrest.
The interim government, heavily influenced by the BNP and other anti-Awami League factions, has since intensified efforts to undermine Mujib’s historical significance. On the day of Hasina’s departure to Delhi, one of the most striking images was that of protesters desecrating a statue of Mujib in Dhaka. On the same day, demonstrators torched and vandalized Mujib’s residence—a site deeply symbolic in Bangladesh’s history. Converted into a memorial by Hasina in 2001, the house was the scene of the 1975 military coup that claimed Mujib’s life along with most of his family.
At the core of the ongoing debate over who declared Bangladesh’s independence lies the contrasting legacies of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and Ziaur Rahman, two figures who embody opposing visions for the nation. Mujib, who won the 1973 elections with a sweeping mandate—albeit under allegations of widespread rigging and manipulation—sought to shape Bangladesh as a secular republic. He banned Islamist parties, accusing them of siding with Pakistan during the Liberation War. However, his vision was cut short when he and most of his family were assassinated in 1975 during the first of several military coups in the country’s history.
The political vacuum paved the way for Ziaur Rahman’s rise from military chief to President. During his tenure, Ziaur reversed many of Mujib’s policies, lifting restrictions on Islamist groups and, most notably, removing secularism from the Constitution in 1978. Significant political shifts also marked his presidency; however, his life, like Mujib’s, was tragically cut short in a coup in 1981.
This ideological divide has persisted through the political successors of these two leaders: Sheikh Hasina, Mujib’s daughter, and Khaleda Zia, Ziaur’s widow. Hasina’s governments have consistently clamped down on Islamist elements, reinforcing her father’s secularist vision. In contrast, Khaleda’s administrations have provided space for Islamist groups, even elevating their influence in high offices. This enduring contention continues to shape Bangladesh’s political and social landscape.
Based in Karachi, the author is a novelist and science fiction writer. He has a special interest in the social and political affairs of South Asia and can be reached at omariftikhar82@gmail.com
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