26 January 2024 | Dhaka, Bangladesh
Islami Andolan Bangladesh (IAB), an Islamist political party, organised a protest rally and procession in Dhaka on 26 January 2024, demanding the removal of “Sharifa’s Story” from the seventh-grade History and Social Science textbook and opposing the inclusion of transgender-related content in Bangladesh’s national curriculum. The demonstration took place outside the Baitul Mukarram National Mosque following Friday prayers, with participants marching through the Purana Paltan area carrying banners and placards condemning what they described as the promotion of transgender identities and homosexuality through school education. The protest was organised by the party’s Dhaka metropolitan north and south branches as part of its campaign against the revised national curriculum. The demonstration followed several days of controversy surrounding “Sharifa’s Story,” which portrays the experiences of a Hijra person and addresses issues of gender identity and social acceptance.
Addressing the rally, Mufti Syed Muhammad Faizul Karim, Senior Nayeb-e-Ameer of Islami Andolan Bangladesh, accused the government of introducing transgender-related concepts into the education system and claimed that the curriculum was being used to promote homosexuality under the pretext of representing transgender people. He described the inclusion of such material as an attack on Islamic values and demanded changes to the curriculum. Faizul Karim also questioned the government’s position on transgender identities and called on the prime minister to clarify whether she supported their inclusion in educational materials. Protesters carried placards opposing changes to Islamic educational institutions, while party leaders accused the authorities of undermining religious and cultural values through the new curriculum.
The protest also targeted BRAC University over its decision not to continue the contractual teaching engagement of Asif Mahtab Utsha, who had publicly torn pages containing “Sharifa’s Story” during a seminar on 19 January. Faizul Karim demanded that Asif Mahtab be reinstated and threatened direct action against BRAC if the demand was not met. He warned that people would “remove every brick of BRAC”, turning the protest over transgender-related textbook content into a direct threat against the institution. He also called for a boycott of BRAC-associated institutions and products. The demonstration took place after the Ministry of Education had formed a five-member committee on 24 January to review the story and a legal notice had been issued on 25 January demanding its removal. Through the rally, Islami Andolan Bangladesh brought organised political and religious opposition to Hijra and transgender representation in school textbooks onto the streets of the capital, combining demands for the removal of the content with direct pressure and threats against an educational institution.
References
Dhaka Tribune — IAB takes to streets over transgender story in textbook — 26 January 2024
Dhaka Post — ব্র্যাকের প্রতিটি ইট খুলে নেওয়ার হুমকি ইসলামী আন্দোলনের — 26 January 2024
Desh Rupantor — শরীফার গল্প বাতিলের দাবিতে ইসলামী আন্দোলনের বিক্ষোভ — 26 January 2024
Jamuna Television — ব্র্যাকের প্রতিটি ইট খুলে নেয়ার হুঁশিয়ারি ইসলামী আন্দোলনের — 26 January 2024
Desh Rupantor — ব্র্যাকের প্রতিটি ইট খুলে ফেলবে জনগণ: ফয়জুল করীম — 26 January 2024
YouTube — Video documentation of the protest
