Bangladesh Bank governor Dr Ahsan H. Mansur, accompanied by Finance Adviser Salehuddin Ahmed, Law Adviser Asif Nazrul, Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT) Affairs Adviser Supradip Chakma and Local Government Adviser Asif Mahmud Sajeeb Bhuiyan, handed over images of six newly designed banknotes to Chief Adviser Professor Muhammad Yunus following a meeting of the advisory council at the Chief Adviser’s Office on Monday. (Photo: X)
Until now, all notes featured the portrait of late Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, who led Bangladesh from independence from Pakistan in 1971 until soldiers assassinated him and most of his family in a 1975 coup.
Bangladesh Bank spokesperson Arif Hossain Khan stated that the revised designs aim to reflect the country’s diverse cultural heritage. Existing notes featuring Mujib will remain in circulation, but the new design rollout, covering nine denominations, is underway, starting with three denominations this week, reported AFP.
This currency overhaul is part of a larger, coordinated effort to deconstruct the political and ideological legacy of the Awami League, led by Sheikh Hasina for over 15 years. Following Hasina’s ouster in August 2024 during a student-led uprising, the country has been governed by an interim administration headed by Yunus. The new leadership is attempting to reframe Bangladesh’s recent history and purge the state apparatus of political influence associated with the previous regime.
Radical changes have also been made to school textbooks. Dozens of poems, essays, and photographs featuring Mujib and Hasina have been removed. Previously sidelined figures like former military ruler Ziaur Rahman, who first declared Bangladesh’s independence in 1971 and later founded the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), have returned to prominence in the revised curriculum. The head of the national textbook commission, AKM Riazul Hassan, emphasised the need to prevent youth from being “trapped in an endless cycle of hatred.”
However, critics argue that this new narrative carries omissions of its own. While acknowledging the atrocities committed during Hasina’s regime, the revised texts do not explicitly name the Jamaat-linked militias responsible for killings during the 1971 war. Additionally, references to transgender Bangladeshis have been removed, signaling concessions to hardline religious groups.
Internationally, Yunus has received strong backing. Former United States President Joe Biden and former President Bill Clinton have both voiced support, with Biden pledging American assistance for Bangladesh’s reform agenda. Clinton hailed Yunus for remaining “in the future business” and credited him with empowering marginalised communities.
Yet, as the government dismantles the Awami League’s symbols, the larger question looms: Will this reset help foster an inclusive national identity, or merely replace one dominant narrative with another? In trying to move past Hasina’s deeply entrenched legacy, Bangladesh is also confronting the fragility of its democratic institutions, as well as the cost of politicising its history.
