Bangladesh revises textbooks: Mujibur Rahman’s legacy, India’s 1971 role downplayed; anti-Hasina uprising added

These "reforms" come after an interim government headed by Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus assumed control of Bangladesh, marking the end of Sheikh Hasina's 16-year rule

The Bangladesh government is making substantial revisions to school textbooks, downplaying former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s legacy, her father Mujibur Rahman’s role in the freedom struggle, and the contributions of Indian leadership to the 1971 Liberation War.

The National Curriculum and Textbook Board (NCTB) of Bangladesh has updated 441 textbooks for students across primary, secondary, and higher secondary levels, producing over 40 crore copies for the 2025 academic year, according to a report by The Daily Star, the country’s daily.

These "reforms" come after an interim government headed by Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus assumed control of Bangladesh, marking the end of Sheikh Hasina's 16-year rule. She was ousted on August 5, 2024, and has been living in India ever since.

India’s role downsized:

According to The Indian Express, two photographs featuring Mujibur Rahman and former Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi were removed from the inside cover of the Class 6 English textbook. Other textbooks have also seen the removal of Mujib’s images with international leaders.

Having said that, the Class 5 textbook continues to feature a chapter titled ‘Pakistani Bahinir Antmosamarpan O Amader Bijoy (Pakistani Forces Surrender and Our Victory),’ highlighting the Indian Army’s participation alongside Bangladeshi freedom fighters in the 1971 war against Pakistan.

As part of the revisions, the national flag and anthem—considered by Awami League critics as symbols of Mujib’s influence and Indian intervention—have been moved to the back pages of the textbooks.

Chairperson of the NCTB, Professor AKM Reazul Hassan, spoke to Indian Express about another impending India-related change in the textbook, “The old books state that India was the first to recognise Bangladesh (as an independent nation) on December 6, 1971. However, we were told that Bhutan was the first to recognise Bangladesh on December 3, 1971. Since we were short on time, we could not rectify this. We will fix this next year.”

New textbooks shift focus to other leaders over Mujib:

Among the major changes in the revised textbooks is the effort to highlight other leaders of the Muktijuddho (Bangladesh’s freedom struggle), a move that Awami League critics say addresses their previous overshadowing by Mujib and Hasina.

The revised textbooks for primary and secondary students will now acknowledge Ziaur Rahman as the one who declared Bangladesh’s independence in 1971. Since 2010, a year after Sheikh Hasina's return to power, textbooks have stated that Mujibur Rahman declared Bangladesh’s independence via a wireless message just before his arrest by the Pakistan Army on March 26, 1971.

The new textbooks for 2025 academic year 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", Hassan told The Daily Star.

Earlier, in the textbooks of classes one to 10, the information on who made the declaration of independence was changed according to the government in power, the report added.

Anti-Hasina protests take centrestage:

Hasina’s images and mentions – that were once present on the flaps of textbooks -- have been completely erased, with a striking new addition covering the July 2024 uprising that brought down her Awami League government.

A new addition to the Class 5 textbook ‘Amar Bangla (My Bengali)’ is an essay honouring the “martyrs” of last year’s uprising. Titled ‘Amra Tomader Bhulbo Na (We Won’t Forget You),’ it contains biographies and images of student activists Abu Sayed and Mir Mahfujur Rehman Mugdho, who were killed by police gunfire during the demonstrations, according to The Indian Express report.

A Class 8 literature book has an essay on the anti-Sheikh Hasina protests, and a chapter titled ‘Bangabandhu for Bangladesh’ has been replaced by one on the role of women in the 2024 protests, titled ‘Women’s Role in Uprising’, the report added.