Properly call them ‘Madam’: The Bangladesh government has reversed a practice instituted by former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina that required senior women to be addressed as ‘Sir’.
The decision was announced Thursday evening by the executive, which specified that a commission would meet to review the entire protocol in use in the public service.
In power since 2009, Ms. Hasina fled the country on August 5 after several weeks of bloodily suppressed demonstrations and riots. She found exile in neighboring India.
An interim government led by Nobel Peace Prize winner Muhammad Yunus succeeded him, until elections scheduled for mid-2026.
“During her authoritarian reign (…) it seems that she had published a directive requiring that she be addressed by Sir,” detailed the government in a press release.
“This practice was later extended to other women in senior administration, who were and still are called Sirwhich is clearly strange,” adds the text.
“Many women agreed with this practice, they found it more neutral,” a civil servant who requested anonymity commented to AFP, “but some preferred Madame…”.
