According to new Bangladesh textbooks, Ziaur Rahman, rather than Mujib, declared independence.

According to a media source, Bangladesh has published new textbooks that state that Ziaur Rahman declared the country’s independence in 1971, replacing earlier ones that attributed the proclamation to founding father Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.

The Daily Star newspaper said that the new textbooks for elementary and secondary pupils feature various improvements. The textbooks also eliminated Mujibur Rahman’s title of “Father of the Nation”.

The new textbooks for the 2025 academic year will 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,” according to Prof. AKM Reazul Hassan, chairman of the National Curriculum and Textbook Board.

He noted that the material was offered in free textbooks that discussed the declaration.

According to the publication, Rakhal Raha, a writer and researcher who was part in the textbook revision process, stated that they attempted to liberate the textbooks from “exaggerated, imposed history”.

“Those who revised the textbooks found that it wasn’t fact-based information that Sheikh Mujibur Rahman sent the wireless message [declaring independence] while being arrested by the army, and so they decided to remove it.” Previously, the information about who wrote the Declaration of Independence in textbooks for grades one through ten was modified depending on the administration in power, according to the newspaper.

It is commonly believed among Awami League supporters that Mujibur Rahman made the proclamation and that Ziaur Rahman, an Army major and eventually a Liberation War field commander, just read out the declaration on Mujib’s instructions. Earlier, Bangladesh chose to begin the process of deleting the picture of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman from its currency notes as it phased out the old ones.

The decision followed the removal of his daughter Sheikh Hasina as prime minister on August 5. His monuments and murals featuring his likeness were attacked when his daughter escaped to India.

The interim administration also canceled a national holiday on August 15, the anniversary of Mujibur Rahman’s killing.