Dhaka
\nBangladesh sought to re-write its history as the new textbooks for primary and secondary students placed former military ruler Ziaur Rehman as the leader who declared the country\u2019s independence in 1971, according to media reports on Friday.
\nReports in the Indian and Bangladeshi media said that the new curriculum dethroned Mujibur Rahman as the \u2018father of the nation\u2019. It said that the late Zia, who was an army officer and later fought against Pakistan, had actually declared the independence.
\nQuoting Prof AKM Reazul Hassan, chairman of the National Curriculum and Textbook Board, Dhaka\u2019s Daily Star newspaper reported that several changes had been made in the textbooks for the 2025 academic year.
\nThe paper said that the new textbooks would state that \u201con March 26, 1971, Ziaur Rahman declared the independence of Bangladesh, and on March 27, he made another declaration of independence on behalf of Bangabandhu [Mujib]\u201d.
\nThe move came after the ouster of Mujib\u2019s daughter Sheikh Hasina as prime minister on August 5. Mujib\u2019s statues and murals bearing his image were targeted as his daughter fled to India after massive public revolt.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Dhaka Bangladesh sought to re-write its history as the new textbooks for primary and secondary students placed former military ruler Ziaur Rehman as the leader who declared the country\u2019s independence in 1971, according to media reports on Friday. Reports in the Indian and Bangladeshi media said that the new curriculum dethroned Mujibur Rahman as the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":453615,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-453591","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n