Two employees of University Press Limited (UPL), a publishing house in Dhaka, were subjected to harassment and forcibly taken to a police outpost on 28 September 2026 over the sale of The Unfinished Memoirs, the autobiography of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, according to local media reports. The incident has drawn sharp criticism from citizens and civil society groups amid growing concerns over freedom of expression in Bangladesh.

What Happened at the UPL Outlet

According to a statement issued by UPL, two men arrived at its outlet and, upon seeing the book on display, claimed it was 'banned' and demanded an explanation for its continued sale. The men then pulled down the shop's shutter, gathered bystanders, and escorted two sales employees to a nearby police outpost. UPL described the employees as having been subjected to 'severe harassment' and called the episode 'extremely shameful and unfortunate for the nation.'

Matiur Rahman, officer-in-charge of Sutrapur Police Station, told Bangladeshi media outlet bdnews24 that UPL had been publishing the memoir 'for a long time' and that the copies on sale were likely from an older edition printed earlier. The two employees were subsequently released without charge. Police identified those behind the incident as 'local BNP activists,' though no arrests were reported.

The Book at the Centre of the Row

The Unfinished Memoirs is the autobiography of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the founding father of Bangladesh and a towering — and deeply contested — figure in the country's political history. The book has been in print with UPL for several decades and carries no formal legal prohibition. Critics of the current political climate in Bangladesh argue that incidents like this amount to extrajudicial censorship, achieved through intimidation rather than due process.

Civil Society Condemns the Incident

A group of citizens issued a joint statement on Tuesday calling for an impartial investigation into the 28 September incident and demanding legal action against those responsible, as well as safety guarantees for the publishing house and booksellers across Bangladesh. Bangladeshi daily Prothom Alo quoted the signatories as saying: 'Everyone has the right to disagree with, criticise, or debate the content of a book. But that right does not give them the right to take away the right to publish, sell, or read another's book. Whether a book should be banned or not should be determined through a fully legal process; not based on the declarations and pressure of any individual or group.'

The signatories described The Unfinished Memoirs as 'an important book in the history of Bangladesh,' while acknowledging that the work may invite different evaluations. They stressed that such differences ought to be expressed through 'discussion, research and reasoned argument' — not through attacks on bookshops or harassment of employees.

Wider Implications for Press and Publishing Freedom

The signatories warned that if such incidents are allowed to continue unchecked, publishers could face growing informal restrictions on what they can release, while readers' own freedom to choose their reading material may also be curtailed. The episode comes against a backdrop of heightened political sensitivity in Bangladesh surrounding the legacy of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman following the political transition of 2024. Rights observers have flagged a pattern of intimidation targeting cultural and publishing institutions that are perceived as ideologically associated with the previous government.

With no formal ban on the book in place and the employees now released, the immediate stand-off has eased — but the broader question of how Bangladesh navigates political memory and free expression remains unresolved.