New Delhi: The Muhammad Yunus-led Bangladesh interim government, in a controversial move, has announced the cancellation of eight national holidays linked to Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, Sheikh Hasina, and the Hasina-led Awami League.
The decision, coming on the heels of Sheikh Hasina’s ouster from the country in August this year, has drawn criticism from political figures, intellectuals and leading newspapers in Bangladesh as an “ill-timed, revisionist move” that “diminishes history”.
The cancelled holidays include the 7 March commemoration of the informal declaration of the country’s independence by Mujibur Rahman in an iconic 1971 speech, the 15 August National Mourning Day marking his assassination, the 4 November National Constitution Day, and the birth anniversaries of Sheikh Hasina’s mother and brothers, among others.
The Sheikh Hasina-led government made 7 March a national day in 2021. Earlier in 1996, her government declared 17 March a national holiday to celebrate Mujibur Rahman’s birthday, plus National Children’s Day. After being cancelled in 2002 by Khaleda Zia’s Bangladesh Nationalist Party government, the holiday was reinstated in 2009 by the Awami League government. National Mourning Day was first observed in 1996, cancelled in 2002, and restored in 2008 after a court ruling.
National Constitution Day was introduced in 2022. Similarly, Mujib’s elder son Sheikh Kamal’s birth anniversary (5 August), Mujib’s wife Sheikh Fazilatunnesa Mujib’s birth anniversary (8 August), and the 18 October Sheikh Russel Day on the birth anniversary of Mujib’s younger son were all recognised as national holidays in the past few years. Also, Smart Bangladesh Day (12 December) replaced Digital Bangladesh Day in 2023—an effort by the Hasina government to focus on the country’s tech-driven future.
The Bangladesh interim government’s social media channels announced the decision to cancel these days before a circular from the Cabinet division confirmed the same.
Speaking at a press conference, Bangladesh Adviser for Information and Broadcasting Nahid Islam defended the move, saying that the Awami League established the national holidays, which should not be considered objective. He said the 7 March speech is undeniably significant, but the day should not be commemorated as a national holiday.
“We are not erasing history, but we are rewriting it from a new perspective. What the Awami League established as national days should not be a tool for political dominance. Bangabandhu has been made controversial by the Awami League. He has become a part of their ‘fascist ideology’,” Islam said, according to Bangladesh’s leading publication, Daily Star.
Islam also took potshots at recognising Mujibur Rahman as the sole ‘Father of the Nation’. He added that Bangladesh’s history of struggle is far broader than just one individual and that many others played crucial roles in shaping the country, naming prominent figures such as Sher-e-Bangla A.K. Fazlul Huq, Huseyn Shaheed Suhrawardy, and Maulana Hamid Khan Bhashani, among others.
“The Awami League held power in a fascist manner, suppressing voting rights through enforced disappearances, killings, and even genocide. As a result, their declarations—whether designating someone the Father of the Nation or establishing national days—will not continue in the new Bangladesh,” Islam said, according to The Daily Star.
When asked if the government recognises any actions of the Awami League as having national importance, the adviser said, “A government without a mandate has no legitimacy. Many actions were taken during that time, but they will all be reevaluated and restructured.”
‘We should not do anything that diminishes the history’
The cancellation of the national holidays has been criticised for the timing and potential long-term implications.
The Daily Star called the decision “an ill-timed revisionist attempt” that could have been avoided. “The government has waded into territory that doesn’t concern it, and the manner in which it has done it has raised more questions than it has resolved,” its editorial read.
Adding to the wave of criticism is the view that the move is to weaken the historical legacy of the Awami League.
“No matter who declares or ‘undeclares’ national holidays in Bangladesh, and no matter what sort of ignorance or opportunism guides history-writing in Bangladesh, the place of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, his historic 7 March address, and the tragedy of 15 August, alongside 26 March and 16 December, will remain indelible in the history of Bangladesh,” sociologist Habibul Haque Khondker wrote in Dhaka Tribune.
Columnist Sohrab Hassan said in an op-ed for Prothom Alo that dismissing the national holidays undermines the values those represent — such as democracy, human rights, and social justice. These principles, he wrote, are enshrined in the Constitution, but the interim government has also cancelled celebrating the day of its incorporation.
“In dismissing the Awami League narrative, we should not do anything that diminishes the history of our liberation war and independence, anything that questions all the achievements and victories of the past,” he wrote.
Meanwhile, the Awami League condemned the move, asserting that removing national days linked to Bangabandhu and the country’s history is a vindictive move.
“The people of Bangladesh were, are and will continue to be vocal against all attempts to erase all the history of the establishment of Bangladesh by pressing the reset button,” Hasina’s son, Sajeeb Wazed Joy, said.
Left parties in Bangladesh have also criticised the move. However, the BNP, which has a similar history of cancelling national holidays such as 17 March and 15 August, has, so far, not released any official statement.
(Edited by Madhurita Goswami)
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