Dhaka: Following protests from Islamist organisations upset by a curriculum reform to recognise transgender identities, same-sex relationships, and secular science, Bangladesh withdrew two new school textbooks.
Since last month, tens of thousands of people have protested in the capital city of Dhaka, calling on the National Curriculum and Textbook Board (NCTB) to reverse the revisions made to the texts written for students in grades 11 through 13. The narrative of a young boy named Sharif who transitions, adopts the female name Sharifa, and moves in with other transgender people is told in one chapter of the new history and social science book.
According to the government-run NCTB, the decision to remove the books was made "due to some criticisms and to lessen the reading load on pupils." According to spokesman Mohammad Mashiuzzaman, "many schools in our rural areas don't have the resources to deliver lessons from these books and the contents are a little heavy."
“There are also debates over the contents of the books. So we decided to take them out for now so that no one can politicise the issue. ”
The Bangladeshi government made it legal for people to identify as belonging to a third gender in 2014, and it has recently expanded the rights of "hijras" in sectors like housing and higher education. Multiple Islamic clerics have even issued decrees declaring them part of the country’s Muslim mainstream.