Members of Jamaat-e-Islami, the Islamist political party whose leaders were convicted of war crimes during Bangladesh's 1971 independence war, have announced plans to present what they call the "correct history" of the liberation struggle to students across the country.
The announcement, made in a press conference this week, has sparked fierce backlash from historians, liberation war veterans, and human rights groups who warn of historical revisionism by an organization that actively opposed Bangladesh's creation.
"This is not about different perspectives," said Dr. Muntasir Mamoon, a prominent Bangladeshi historian. "Jamaat-e-Islami collaborated with the Pakistani military during the genocide. That's documented fact, not opinion. Letting them 'correct' history is like letting arsonists rewrite fire safety rules."
A billion people aren't a statistic — they're a billion stories. Three million Bangladeshis died in the 1971 war. Their families deserve truth, not revisionism from those convicted of contributing to their deaths.
Jamaat's Role in 1971
When Bangladesh (then East Pakistan) fought for independence from Pakistan in 1971, Jamaat-e-Islami opposed the liberation movement, arguing for preserving the unity of Pakistan as an Islamic state.
The party formed armed militias, most notoriously the Al-Badr and Al-Shams groups, which collaborated with the Pakistani military in identifying and executing Bengali intellectuals, freedom fighters, and civilians. In the war's final days, these militias systematically killed professors, doctors, journalists, and writers in what became known as the Martyred Intellectuals Day massacres.
Between 2010 and 2015, Bangladesh's International Crimes Tribunal convicted multiple Jamaat leaders for crimes against humanity during the 1971 war. Several were executed, including the party's senior leaders.
These are not allegations. These are legal verdicts based on extensive evidence and testimony from survivors.
The 'Correct History' Claim
In their recent announcement, Jamaat representatives argued that students are receiving a "one-sided narrative" of the liberation war and that the party's perspective must be included for "balance and truth."
They did not specify what this "correct history" would contain, but historical revisionism by 1971 collaborators typically involves several claims: minimizing or denying the scale of atrocities committed by Pakistani forces and their local collaborators, portraying the independence movement as a conspiracy by India, or arguing that Jamaat's opposition was based on legitimate religious and political concerns rather than collaboration with genocide.
"They want to sanitize their role," said Shahriar Kabir, a researcher and activist who has documented war crimes. "They want young people who didn't live through 1971 to believe Jamaat was just another political party with a different opinion, not an organization that helped hunt down and murder Bangladeshis."
Survivors Speak Out
For those who lived through the war, the announcement is both painful and alarming.
Ferdousi Priyabhashini, a war heroine who survived capture and torture by Pakistani forces and their collaborators, responded sharply to Jamaat's plan. "The correct history is written in the scars on my body and the graves of three million martyrs," she said. "No amount of propaganda can erase that."
Liberation war veterans' associations have called for legal action to prevent what they describe as an organized campaign to distort history and rehabilitate war criminals' reputations.
"We didn't fight for independence so that our children would be taught lies by those who tried to prevent that independence," said Colonel (Retired) Quazi Sajjad Ali Zahir, a freedom fighter and lawmaker.
The Political Context
Jamaat's announcement comes amid shifting political dynamics in Bangladesh. After years of being politically marginalized and seeing its top leadership executed for war crimes, the party has been attempting to rebuild its public image and political influence.
The party has rebranded its student wing, launched social welfare programs, and increasingly framed its historical position using the language of "alternative perspectives" and "academic freedom" — rhetoric that resonates with some younger Bangladeshis unfamiliar with the details of 1971.
Critics argue this is a calculated strategy to exploit generational distance from the liberation war.
"Fifty-five years have passed," noted Dr. Mamoon. "Younger people don't have the lived memory. That makes them vulnerable to revisionist narratives presented with academic language and claims of censorship."
The Danger of Revisionism
Historians and human rights advocates warn that allowing organizations convicted of war crimes to "present their history" to students normalizes atrocity denial and undermines the documented historical record.
"This isn't about free speech or multiple perspectives," said Nur Khan Liton, executive director of Ain o Salish Kendra, a human rights organization. "Would we let Nazi organizations teach their 'version' of the Holocaust to German students? The 1971 genocide is documented. The collaborators were tried and convicted. There's no 'other side' to that."
The announcement has also raised concerns among India-Bangladesh relations watchers, as Jamaat's version of history typically portrays India's support for Bangladeshi independence as imperialist interference rather than assistance to a people fighting genocide.
For Bangladesh, a nation whose founding story centers on the 1971 liberation war, the question of historical memory is not academic. It's about the country's core identity — and whether the next generation will know the truth about how their nation came to exist, and at what cost.
