Editorial
Inculcating sense of history
Book distribution plan welcome
A sense of history is the foundation upon which a society finds a niche for itself in the global scheme of things. In Bangladesh, given the various distortions which have crept into our history, inculcating a sense of history in the young is of seminal significance. That is why the government move to provide a fifteen-volume work on War of Liberation free of cost to nearly 17,000 school and colleges is welcome. The initiative toward this laudable exercise was of course taken by the last caretaker government, for which it deserves credit. It is our expectation that the present elected government will eventually fulfill this onerous responsibility of bringing our young population level with the history of the country, particularly in relation to the War of Liberation and the events that preceded it.
The authorities plan to distribute the volumes to 17,000 additional educational institutions next year. Last year, altogether 898 institutions were given the work. We can safely predict, therefore, that in the near future the volumes will eventually reach those institutions which are yet to come by them. We do think, though, that a caveat is necessary here. It is that the teaching of history through these fifteen volumes must avoid the controversies and misinterpretations which have for years left the young confused about the background to the momentous happenings of 1971. We trust that the contributions of all individuals and sections of people involved in the making of Bangladesh's history will have been taken account of in these works and that in future there will be no scope for anyone to point to any loopholes in the narrative.
Finally, it remains for teachers in schools and colleges to make it a point to have their students go through the volumes on a regular and concerted basis. Indeed, no matter what subjects pupils take up for study, the teaching of history should be made part of the curricula. Nothing can be worthier than knowing about one's cultural and political roots.
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