24 January 2024 | Dhaka, Bangladesh
Amid growing religious and conservative opposition to the inclusion of Hijra identity in school textbooks, Bangladesh’s Ministry of Education formed a five-member committee on 24 January 2024 to review “Sharifa’s Story” in the seventh-grade History and Social Science textbook. The story presented the identity and family experiences of a Hijra person and their life within the Hijra community. The campaign against the story intensified on 19 January, when BRAC University part-time lecturer Asif Mahtab Utsha publicly tore pages containing the story during a seminar and opposed the inclusion of transgender identity in the textbook. A video of the incident circulated widely on social media, followed by broader opposition demanding the removal of the story and changes to the curriculum.
Three of the five members appointed to the committee were associated with religious and Islamic educational institutions. Professor Abdur Rashid, Vice-Chancellor of Islamic Arabic University, was appointed as the committee’s convener. The other members were Mufti Maulana Kafil Uddin Sarker, Governor of the Islamic Foundation; Professor Mohammad Moshiuzzaman, a member of the National Curriculum and Textbook Board (NCTB); Professor Abdul Halim, Director of the Institute of Education and Research at the University of Dhaka; and Professor Mohammad Abdur Rashid, Principal of Dhaka Alia Madrasa. However, no representative of the Hijra or transgender communities whose lives and identities were the subject of the story was included in the committee. The committee also did not include representatives from the development or human rights sectors that had worked for years on the rights and social inclusion of these communities, nor did it include medical professionals or specialists on gender and transgender issues.
As a result, the communities whose lives and identities were represented in “Sharifa’s Story” were themselves excluded from the process established to review their representation in the textbook. In contrast, three people associated with religious and Islamic educational institutions were appointed to the committee at a time when the story was facing religious and conservative opposition. This unequal representation raised concerns from the time the committee was formed about whether the perspectives of Hijra and transgender communities would be adequately considered and whether the review could lead to a negative decision.
References
The Business Standard — Committee formed to review ‘Sharifa’s story’ in textbook — 24 January 2024
Dhaka Tribune — Education ministry forms high-level expert committee to review Sharifa’s story — 24 January 2024
Prothom Alo — ‘শরিফার গল্প’ পর্যালোচনায় কমিটি করল শিক্ষা মন্ত্রণালয় — 24 January 2024
Jago News 24 — ‘শরীফ থেকে শরীফা’ গল্প পর্যালোচনায় ৫ সদস্যের কমিটি — 24 January 2024
United News of Bangladesh (UNB) — Education Ministry forms 5-member probe body to review Sharifa’s story — 24 January 2024
