Legal notice calls on govt to ban books

A legal notice has been served calling on the government to ban the books titled 'Documents on the War of Independence' published in June 2004 by the then BNP-led four-party alliance government distorting the history in respect of the declaration of independence.
The notice sent on April 13 by Manzill Musrhid, a lawyer of the Supreme Court (SC), also urged the government to take action against the persons who changed the real history in the name of reprint.
The 15 volumes of the books were first published in November 1982 and then in December 2003. But the Liberation War Ministry brought changes to the part 'Declaration of Independence' in the 3rd volume of the book when it was reprinted in June 2004, the lawyer said in the legal notice.
He also set a 48-hour timeframe to meet his demand, which ended yesterday.
Manzill Musrhid told The Daily Star yesterday that as the government did not take any steps or give any reply to the notice, he decided to file a writ petition with the High Court (HC) on Sunday seeking direction to the government to ban the books.
He said those who were responsible for distorting the national history had committed offence against the state and violated the Constitution.
The legal notice was served to eight high officials of the government, including the secretaries of the cabinet division, the president secretariat and the office of the prime minister.