Staff Reporter :
The names and images of Magura-1 MP and former national cricket team captain Shakib Al Hasan, along with former Bangladesh Football Federation (BFF) president Kazi Salahuddin, have been removed from the newly printed textbooks for students.
In their place, sports personalities such as Bangladesh Women’s Cricket Team captain Nigar Sultana Jyoti and the country’s first female international chess master, Rani Hamid, have been included. Additionally, national football team player Jamal Bhuiyan has been featured in the new editions.
An analysis of the new textbooks reveals that in the “Sports Personality” lesson of the English for Today book for Class 7, Kazi Salahuddin’s photo has been replaced with Rani Hamid’s, and Shakib Al Hasan’s with Nigar Sultana Jyoti’s. Similarly, Indian cricket legend Sachin Tendulkar’s photo has been replaced with that of Jamal Bhuiyan. However, photos of global icons like Pele, Maradona, and Brian Lara remain unchanged.
In the “Our Golden Boys and Girls” lesson of the same book, the paragraph describing Kazi Salahuddin as a local football hero has been removed.
A new lesson titled “Our Winners in the Global Arena” has been added, highlighting the Bangladesh U-20 football team’s SAFF Championship victory. Information about Shakib, previously referred to as a “golden boy,” has also been excluded.
In the Class 7 ICT textbook, the lesson “ICT in Social Life” has replaced Shakib Al Hasan’s Twitter profile photo with that of national cricket team stalwart Mushfiqur Rahim.
Meanwhile, the older ICT textbook for Class 6 featured a photo of Shakib during the opening ceremony of the Cricket World Cup in Bangladesh. This has been replaced in the new book with an image of Dr. Muhammad Yunus carrying the Olympic torch.
NCTB Chairman Professor Dr. A.K.M. Riazul Hasan stated, “Subject experts have reviewed and revised the content as necessary. Wherever they felt additions or omissions were needed, they acted accordingly.
Certain elements have been excluded to keep the textbooks free of controversy. The experts will further refine the content in the future.”
