Liberation War Affairs Minister AKM Mozammel Huq yesterday said the roles of the collaborators of the Pakistani forces and those who opposed the birth of independent Bangladesh during the 1971 Liberation War should be included in textbooks.
“I must thank the education minister because the 1971 war has been included in our textbooks but it is not enough. Razakar, Al-Badr and Jamaat-e-Islami’s roles should be included as well.
“Only telling what the freedom fighters did for the country at the time of the war is not the full truth. For that, we also have to tell what the collaborators did,” he told the parliament during a discussion on budget.
The minister said an initiative would have to be taken to draw up a list of Razakars, Al-Badrs and others who were against the 1971 war and also Bangladesh’s independence from Pakistan.
“Such a list was at the Home Ministry but it was destroyed when people like Ali Ahsan Mohammad Mujaheed became ministers after BNP assumed office.”
Mozammel also said the list of freedom fighters would be updated and published on the ministry’s website soon. “All freedom fighters will get identity cards and certificates.”
He said an initiative had been taken to build a monument in remembrance of the allied forces during the war.
“Action will be taken against institutions where national flags are not hoisted,” warned the minister.