The High Court has ordered all copies of a Bangladesh Bank publication detailing its history to be withdrawn from the market for distorting the historical contents.
The bench of Justice Md Ashfaqul Islam and Justice Mohammad Ali gave the orders on Tuesday (Feb 19).
The court has also summoned Shuvangkar Saha, editor of the book and former executive director of Bangladesh Bank, to explain why the publication does not contain the photograph of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and contains illustrations of former president of Pakistan, Ayub Khan and former governor of East Pakistan Monem Khan.
On December of 2017, Bangladesh Bank published the book titled ‘Bangladesh Bank er Itihash (History of Bangladesh Bank)’ in which a picture of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman was not included, and his contribution in establishing Bangladesh Bank was downplayed.
The court had ordered the finance secretary to file a probe report on the matter. It had also issued a rule asking why distorting the history should not be declared illegal.
The finance secretary, home secretary, Liberation War secretary, Bangladesh Bank governor, executive manager and Abul Kalam Azad of the publicity and publication department were made respondent to the rule.
A four-member committee headed by the Additional Finance Secretary Dr Md Zafar Uddin was formed to probe the matter and submit the report.
The report stated that a probe revealed an inconsistency in the editorial committee of the book and found a lack of coordination between the research committee and editorial committee.
It was absolutely vital to include the photograph of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the report read
It also said that it could have been possible to include the photograph given that the second chapter talks about Bangladesh Bank’s history in light of the country’s struggle for independence.