Coast Guard Removes ‘Joy Bangla’ and Names of Four National Leaders From Five Ships

❐ Staff Reporter

The government has renamed five ships in the Bangladesh Coast Guard fleet. One of the ships was named ‘Joy Bangla’, while the other four were named after four national leaders. The new names will be effective immediately, it has been informed.

A notification in this regard was issued by the Border-3 branch of the Ministry of Home Affairs on Thursday, November 5. The notification was signed by the ministry’s Senior Assistant Secretary Masfika Hossain.

According to the notification, the previous names of the ships have been cancelled and new names have been given. BCGS Joy Bangla has been renamed BCGS Adhamya Bangla.

Besides, BCGS Syed Nazrul will now be known as BCGS Firoz Kabir. BCGS Tajuddin’s name has been changed to BCGS Nurul Islam. BCGS Mansur Ali’s new name is BCGS M Humayun Kabir. And BCGS Kamruzzaman’s name has been changed to BCGS Ashraf Siddiqui.

The notification said that the decision to change the name was taken based on the approval of the appropriate authorities. However, the specific reason for the name change was not mentioned in the notification.

Among the names before the change, Syed Nazrul Islam, Tajuddin Ahmed, Mansur Ali and Kamruzzaman are known as the top four leaders of the Mujibnagar government during the Liberation War. Therefore, the decision to remove these names related to national history and give them new names is already being heavily criticized on the internet.

The government notification did not say anything about who gave the new names or in what context. As a result, the reasoning behind the decision or the explanation of the relevant authorities on the matter is still unknown.