Bangladesh Scraps ‘Sir’ Title for Women Officials

Bangladesh’s caretaker government has abolished a long-standing protocol requiring women in public office to be addressed as “sir,” describing the practice as a bizarre remnant of the former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s rule.

In a statement issued Thursday night by the press wing of the interim administration, led by Nobel Peace Prize laureate Muhammad Yunus, the government confirmed it had annulled the directive. The statement said: “During Sheikh Hasina’s nearly 16-year-long autocratic rule, a directive was reportedly issued requiring public officials to address her as ‘sir’.”

“This practice extended to other high-ranking women officials, who were — and still are — being called ‘sir’, which is clearly odd,” the government noted, adding that a new committee had been constituted to review and update existing official protocols.

The decision follows months of political upheaval in the country. Hasina was ousted from power last year in a student-led uprising and fled to neighboring India. Since then, the caretaker government has been dismantling elements of her administration’s legacy.

However, the move to eliminate the “sir” protocol has not gone unchallenged. A female bureaucrat, who requested anonymity while speaking to AFP, said the change was made without input from women in government service.

“The tradition began during Sheikh Hasina’s tenure, but many women officers supported it, finding the address gender-neutral,” she said.

Meanwhile, the former Prime Minister, now 77, is facing several charges before Bangladesh’s International Crimes Tribunal. She is accused of bearing command responsibility for a brutal crackdown during anti-government protests that led to her ousting. According to the United Nations, an estimated 1,400 people were killed between July and August 2024.

Hasina has refused to return to Dhaka and remains in exile.