Tampering with history

The insertion lacks historical propriety and exhibits scant regard for truth. This stands vindicated by the fact that the authentication committee of the "Muktjuddher Dalilpatro" formed by this BNP government has distanced itself from the change brought about in the shape of 'a new chapter' on the proclamation of Bangladesh's independence.

It may be recalled that late president Zia had entrusted the task of compiling documents of our Liberation movement to a committee with late Hasan Hafeezur Rahman as its chairman in 1977. The documents were compiled in fifteen volumes and first published in 1982. Zia was assassinated in May 1981 so that most of the work was completed during the time of a BNP government.

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Zia had never claimed the pedestal during his lifetime that his followers are trying to place him on after his death. It is a pity his followers cannot emulate the sagacity displayed by Zia. It is regrettable that what has been accepted without a question during the last twenty-two years after its publication is suddenly up for political tinkering.

Even more regrettable is that the proclamation of Mujib has been omitted in its entirety from the current edition. Not only that, we are now having to confront with something new which is that Zia made the first announcement on the night of 25th March. All this is a travesty of truth.

There cannot be two opinions though, that Mujib's proclamations of independence as well as Zia's announcement, are facts that occupy a pride of place in our history. In juxtaposing these two events we neither serve history nor our posterity.

The BNP government has a track-record of looking at history from a politically warped angle. Their distorted view got reflected through some interpolations made in the textbooks, and now we have an alteration to the original and well-established documentation of history which had been duly authenticated by the Constitution.

We demand an immediate cessation of such suicidal and divisive politicisation of history. No one should try to make a political game of history which belongs to the whole nation.

Let good sense prevail and the government revert back to the original document.