Dhaka, May 17 -- An expert committee has recommended the Ministry of Education remove the controversial Sharifa's Story from Class VII textbooks.

Sharifa's Story was included as a public awareness lesson about the Hijra community in the history and social science books under the new curriculum.

In January, Asif Mahtab Utsha, a part-time teacher at BRAC University, caused controversy when he tore out the pages containing the story from a textbook during a protest, saying that it promoted homosexuality.

Amid the controversy, the Ministry of Education formed a five-member committee of high-level experts to consider the story's inclusion in the textbook.

Islamic Foundation Governor Mufti Kafiluddin Sarkar Salehi, a member of the committee...