Abu Sayeed`s death date is wrong in textbooks!

The date of the death of martyred Abu Sayeed in the Anti-discrimination Student Movement has been printed wrong in the ninth and tenth-grade English textbooks.

Abu Sayed, a student of Begum Rokeya University, was shot dead by police on Jul 16, 2024 when the quota reform movement turned violent across the country. People across the country took to the streets when the image of Abu Sayeed standing with open arms at the moment of shooting went viral.

At one stage, the student movement later turned into a mass uprising. Following the mass uprising, Sheikh Hasina fled to India on August 5, leaving the power.

However, in the chapter ‘Graffiti’ in the 9 and 10 grade English books prepared by the National Curriculum and Textbook Board or NCTB, it is said that unarmed Abu Sayed was killed in police firing in Rangpur on Jul 17, 2024.

Although, in the Bengali literature books of the same grades, the newly-added chapter titled "Our New Glory” said: "The movement discovered its most effective and known picture on Jul 16 and that is Abu Sayed's standing in front of the police bullets with his arms and legs spread in Rangpur.”

Following the issue, NCTB Chairman Professor AKM Riazul Hasan said, "The date of Abu Sayeed's death has been incorrectly presented in the ninth-tenth grade English books. However, it is correct in the Bengali literature books of the same grade."

The mistakes are being corrected in online copies. We will issue a correction notification for all the mistakes, he added.