Ziaur Rahman’s Liberation War role to be added to textbooks

An article titled ‘Memories of the War of Independence’ (Swadhinata Juddher Smriti), written by Shaheed President Ziaur Rahman, will be included in school textbooks from the 2027 academic year.

The National Curriculum and Textbook Board (NCTB) has also taken an initiative to include an image of a historic diary maintained by Ziaur Rahman during the Liberation War.

NCTB officials said the article will be introduced as a new chapter in the Class IX-X Bangla Literature textbook for the 2027 academic year.

The National Curriculum Coordination Committee (NCCC) has given final approval for the inclusion of the widely discussed memoir, which is regarded as an important historical account of the 1971 Liberation War.

NCTB Chairman Professor Mohammed Fakhrul Mawla told BSS that the NCCC approved the inclusion of Ziaur Rahman’s ‘Memories of the War of Liberation’ in the Class IX-X Bangla Literature textbook from the next academic year.

He said the initiative aims to present the contributions of different individuals to the country’s independence in an impartial and objective manner.

Educationists and experts said the inclusion of the article would allow students to learn about the historic “We Revolt” broadcast from Chattogram and the eyewitness account of the declaration of independence from Kalurghat, contributing to a more comprehensive account of the 1971 Liberation War.

Eminent educationist and National Professor Dr Mahbub Ullah told BSS that the article has significant historical value and would help students understand the struggle for independence. He said including it in the curriculum was therefore justified.

Professor Shah Shamim Ahmed of Dhaka University’s Institute of Education and Research said the article would provide future generations with an opportunity to learn what he described as objective facts about the Liberation War.

According to the Ministry of Education, the decision to include the article was taken at an NCCC meeting on August 24, chaired by the secretary of the Secondary and Higher Education Division.

NCTB officials said the author biography accompanying the 22nd prose piece in the Class IX-X Bangla Literature textbook identifies Shaheed Ziaur Rahman as the declarer of independence, former president and army chief, commander of Z Force and Sector 1, and recipient of the Bir Uttam gallantry award.

The textbook describes the Liberation War as a broad-based “people’s war” and states that following Sheikh Mujibur Rahman’s arrest after the March 25 genocide, the declaration of independence by then-Major Ziaur Rahman served as a call to those fighting for freedom.

Officials said explanatory notes before the essay reference two publications — ‘Ekti Jatir Jonmo’ (Birth of a Nation), published in Dainik Bangla in 1972, and ‘Swadhinata Juddher Smriti’ (Memories of the War of Independence), published in the now-defunct Dainik Desh in 1980 — as important documents on the Liberation War.

The notes also emphasise that Bangladesh’s independence was not achieved through the efforts of any single individual or political party.

The textbook recognises Huseyn Shaheed Suhrawardy, Sher-e-Bangla AK Fazlul Huq, Maulana Abdul Hamid Khan Bhashani, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, Shaheed President Ziaur Rahman and Tajuddin Ahmad — the first prime minister of independent Bangladesh — as significant figures in the country’s independence and Liberation War.

The essay further recounts the beginning of the war through the armed uprising in Chattogram in March 1971, the declaration of independence from Kalurghat Radio Station and the sacrifices made on the front lines.