Overview

• The caretaker government officially revoked the directive requiring all female government officials to be addressed as “Sir,” deeming the practice inappropriate and outdated.
• A two-member council led by advisers Fouzul Kabir Khan and Syeda Rizwana Hasan has been tasked with reviewing Hasina-era protocol orders and proposing revisions within a month.
• Officials describe the annulment as part of a broader effort to eliminate authoritarian personalization and restore rational administrative and ceremonial practices.
• The “Sir” convention originated under Sheikh Hasina’s 16-year tenure and gradually extended to other senior women officials, entrenching the honorific in state communications.
• Rights activists say the interim administration’s selective focus on symbolic reforms contrasts with its refusal to condemn Islamist-led disruptions of girls’ football earlier this year.