New generations must know the true history of liberation war: Editors Guild roundtable

In the 35 years since the independence of Bangladesh, there were many efforts to distort history leading to several generations being in the dark about the country's liberation war. As a result, there have been divisions and to remove these differences, students of all levels must know the correct history of the liberation war, eminent citizens said on Saturday.

"The main theme of the Declaration of Independence was equality, human dignity and social justice. Today all three have reversed. We are not practising them and the Declaration of Independence is not being taught in textbooks," Barrister Amir-ul Islam, one of the organisers of the Mujibnagar government said at a round table, organised by Editors Guild at the Dhaka Gallery in the capital's Banani.

Mozammel Babu, president of Editors Guild, which promotes responsible journalism, presented the keynote speech in the event.

Mofidul Haque, Trustee of the Liberation War Museum said, the liberation war and independence of Bangladesh is the biggest example of the establishment of the right of self-determination of the nations accepted in the world after the Second World War.

"We will carry the values of Bangabandhu from generation to generation with the extraordinary wisdom and foresight of the movement for the establishment of rights and the liberation war," he said, adding that there will be differences of opinion but it is not acceptable on core values.

Sector 8 sub-sector commander Mahbub Uddin Ahmed Bir Bikram said that a group opposed the liberation war even during the Pakistan period and they are still out there.

Professor Abdul Mannan, the former chairman of the University Grants Commission said, "After 75, we had three generations that did not know the correct history of the liberation war. This is the fault of the education system, which needs to be rectified."

Historian and researcher Professor Syed Anwar Hossain said that Bangabandhu taught self-criticism, self-restraint and self-purification.

Samakal editor Mozammel Hossain said the four pillars of the constitution have also been partially distorted.

"Bangabandhu said our democracy will be a democracy of the oppressed and the rich will not be protected like in the West," he said.

Cultural leader Nasiruddin Yusuf Bachchu emphasised stopping the attempts of historical and cultural distortion.