When my 15-year-old niece recently asked whether everything she read in history textbooks about our nation's founding was true, I realized something troubling. Our students aren't as confused by scientific concepts like evolution as they are by decades of politically manipulated curricula.
Yet on August 17, a Supreme Court lawyer sent a legal notice demanding the removal of Charles Darwin's theory of evolution from Class IX and X science textbooks. He claims it "contradicts Islam" and “confuses” young minds.
This attempt to erase evolution is not new but coming just a year after the July Revolution, it feels especially alarming. It risks replacing political authoritarianism with religious authoritarianism at a moment when Bangladesh is attempting to rebuild.
The irony is stark
The same students who helped bring an authoritarian government to its knees are supposedly ‘confused’ by evolution -- yet research by Nadelson, Culp, Bunn, and colleagues (2009) shows that even young children can successfully learn evolutionary concepts when taught through age-appropriate, hands-on methods.
Even kindergarteners successfully learn about animal adaptations and species relationships. This builds foundations for deeper scientific understanding. If Bangladeshi students are struggling, the solution is better teaching, not wholesale removal.
Consider the precedent this sets. Today it’s Darwin. Tomorrow, could reproductive science, climate change, or the periodic table be deemed controversial? Piecemeal censorship threatens the integrity of the entire curriculum.
Hypotheticals aside, we must confront an uncomfortable truth: We have all, in one way or another, allowed these mistakes to happen; some actively, some passively, and some simply by refusing to think critically.
After witnessing so many innocent lives lost last year, we must ask: What kind of nation do we want Bangladesh to be? Are we building a society that equips our youth with knowledge and critical thinking, or one that shelters behind ideological censorship and poor pedagogy?
The real challenge isn’t Darwin
The legal notice reveals a fundamental misunderstanding of both education and faith. Students already learn religion tailored to their beliefs in separate classes. Evolution is a fundamental science which is as essential to understanding biology as gravity is to physics.
Some Muslim-majority nations have found ways to teach evolution and simultaneously respect faith. This harmony has deep historical roots. During Islam's golden age, Muslim scholars developed the 'Mohammedan theory of evolution of man from lower forms.' Even if it’s not universally accepted, the holy Quran itself encourages scientific inquiry, asks followers to 'travel through the land and observe how He began creation.'
Even conservative Islamic scholars like Sheikh Al-Sha'raawi and Sheikh Al-Albaani have argued that religion and science serve different purposes. The Quran guides faith and morals, while science explains natural mechanisms. Understanding scientific mechanisms doesn't negate faith. Rather, it enriches our comprehension of the natural world.
Constitutional rights at stake
Bangladesh’s Constitution establishes that education must equip students to think critically and engage with the modern world. Article 17 guarantees free, compulsory schooling that nurtures scientific literacy; Articles 32 and 39 protect the freedom to develop one’s mind and to think and speak freely. Removing evolution from classrooms flouts both domestic and international law, denies students the knowledge they need to reason, question, and participate fully in society.
Global precedents protect science
When similar challenges arose elsewhere, institutions consistently defended scientific education. The US The Supreme Court struck down laws mandating "equal time" for creation science.
The United Kingdom banned teaching creationism as scientifically valid in publicly funded schools. South Korea's expert panel affirmed evolution as "essential to modern science." Even when India removed evolution from textbooks in 2023, over 1,800 scientists condemned the decision, understanding its implications for scientific literacy.
These examples prove that protecting evidence-based education isn't anti-religious, it's pro-knowledge.
The intellectual stakes
Removing evolution would have tangible consequences. Future medical students could lack genetics and disease mechanism knowledge. Agricultural researchers might mismanage crop adaptation, and engineers working with biomimetics would miss crucial insights.
In a global, innovation-driven economy, such gaps cripple our youth.
The July Revolution of 2024 symbolized our youth’s stand for merit, reason, and freedom over arbitrary control. Students didn’t die for religious dogma to replace political control. They died believing in Bangladesh’s potential through knowledge and critical thinking.
The arrogance displayed in this legal notice reflects a deeper failure in our curricula. We have failed to teach tolerance. This intolerance is compounded by our Constitution's own contradictions -- declaring Islam the state religion while simultaneously proclaiming Bangladesh a secular republic. This constitutional quagmire creates space for individuals to impose their religious interpretations on secular education, a confusion that our students don't deserve.
Time to grow a spine
Faith and science don’t have to and shouldn’t be reconciled. They answer different questions: Faith guides belief and morals, and science explains the world through evidence. That doesn’t mean we ban faith or remove science. But it absolutely does mean no single religious interpretation should dictate what all students, Muslim, Hindu, Christian, Buddhist, or others, are allowed to learn in science class.
Students must be free to explore, question, and form their own understanding, even when it challenges conventional thinking. The Ministry of Education and relevant authorities must resist this pressure. Courts must uphold constitutional principles over ideological whims.
We stand at a crossroads: Honour the July Revolution's promise by preparing students for a world that demands critical thinking, or not betray that promise by bowing to narrow agendas. The nation’s scientific future and our global standing depend on defending every student's right to knowledge and free inquiry.
Mohsena Akter Drishty is an independent legal researcher who believes critical thinking belongs in every classroom.
