Bangladesh orders seizure of disputed school book

Book wrongly says major general Ziaur Rahman was the proclaimer of the country's independence in 1971.


Afp January 30, 2012

DHAKA: A Bangladesh court has ordered millions of copies of a school textbook to be seized in a dispute over credit for the nation's 1971 independence struggle, a state prosecutor said Monday.

The high court in Dhaka instructed police to confiscate the book, a compilation of essays taught in high schools, for "distortion" in its account of how the country then known as East Pakistan emerged as Bangladesh.

"The court ruled that the book wrongly said major general Ziaur Rahman was the proclaimer of the country's independence in 1971," deputy attorney general Altaf Hossain told AFP.

Bangladesh's independence remains a bitter political issue as Rahman's widow is now leader of the opposition, while the country's founding president Sheikh Mujibur Rahman is the father of current Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.

"Police have been ordered to confiscate all copies of the books from schools, shops and markets in 15 days," Hossain said.

The writer, editors and head of the government's textbook authority have been summoned to the court on February 2, he added.

An angry, decades-long debate about who actually called on the population to launch armed resistance against Pakistan still divides national politics in Bangladesh.

COMMENTS (2)

Nicole Smith | 12 years ago | Reply

It is sad to see courts do this action without investigation into the situation. East Bengal is Bangladesh which was initially part of Pakistan.

John B | 12 years ago | Reply

I believe the first announcement of Bangladesh was made by a rebel radio operating somewhere in India/Bangladesh territory and heard by the Japanese merchant navy. Not even India knew of Bangladesh announcement until BBC reported the next day morning by quoting Japanese merchants.

If my memory serves correctly it was not Mujibur Rahman who made the announcement nor did he speak of free Bangladesh prior to that.

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