Shahid Minar
- This article is about the Shaeed Minar in Dhaka. For the one in Kolkata see Shaheed Minar, Kolkata
The Shaheed Minar is a national monument in Dhaka, Bangladesh, established to commemorate the martyrs of the Language Movement of 1952.
On February 21, 1952, dozens of students and political activists were killed when the Pakistani police force opened fire on Bengali protesters who were demanding equal status to their native tongue, Bangla. The massacre occurred near Dhaka Medical College and Ramna Park in Dhaka. A makeshift monument was erected on February 23[Al Helal,Bashir.Bhasha Andoloner Itihash.pp.474-476] by students of University of Dhaka and other educational institutions, but soon demolished on February 26[The Daily Azad,February 27,1952] by the Pakistani police force.
The Language Movement gained momentum and after a long struggle, Bangla was given equal status as Urdu. To commemorate the martyrs, the Shaheed Minar was designed and built by Hamidur Rahman, a Bangladeshi sculptor. The monument stood in its solemn glory until the Bangladesh Liberation War in 1971, when it was demolished completely during Operation Searchlight, a genocide carried out by the Pakistani Army resulting in an estimated 50,000 civilian deaths. After Bangladesh gained independence, it was rebuilt.
Today, the Shaheed Minar is the centre of cultural activities in Dhaka. Every year, the Language Movement is remembered with due respect at the monument.
The First Shaheed Minar
The first Shaheed Minar was immediately built after the historical incidents of February 21. According to one of the main planner and the designer of the first Shaheed Minar Saeed Hayder, the decision to build a Shaheed Minar was first taken by the students of Dhaka Medical College. The plan was undergoing from midnight of February 22 and the work started the next day. Although their was curfew in place students denied that and started building the Minar in the afternoon of February 23. They carried the work throughout the night and finished it at dawn. A hand written paper was attached to the Minar with ‘Shaheed Smritistombho’ written on it. The Minar was measured 10 into 6 feet[The Daily Azad].
The Minar was inaugurated by the father of martyr Sofiur Rahman. There is also a claim saying it was inaugurated by the editor of The Daily Azad Abul Kalam Sahmsuddin but the proof was not found[Al Helal,Bashir.Bhasha Andoloner Itihash.pp.476-477].
Shaheed Minar(1963-1971)
Famous architect Hamidur Rahman created the design of Shaheed Minar under which the construction was started in 1957. The foundation stone of this Shaheed Mianar was established on February 21, 1956. As the Awami League government was in power it was possible to construct the highly sophisticated model. Hamidur Rahman’s model was a huge complex on a large area of land in the yard of Dhaka Medical College Hostel. The enormous design included a half-circular column to symbolize the mother with her martyred sons standing at the dais of the central part of the monument. A number of Yellow and deep Blue pieces of stained glass symbolizing eyes that reflects the sun was also to be placed firmly in the columns. The marble floor was designed to reflect the moving shadows of the columns all day long. The basement of the Minar also included a 1500 square feet long fresco art to minutely describe the history of the language movement. A railing decorated with Bangla alphabet was to be constructed in front. Two footmarks coloured red and black was also in the design indicating the two opposite forces. Besides this a museum and a library was also included in the design of Rahman. A fountain like an eye shape was also supposed to be constructed with a wavy platform. To protect the Shaheed Minar from tropical climate, Rahman also measured the mixtures of iron rods and cements so that the structure could stand unharmed for centuries.
The construction started according to the design in November 1957 under the supervisation of Hamidur Rahman and Novera Ahmed. Most of the work including the basement, platform, some of the columns with the rails, footprints and some of the murals were also finished when the Martial Law was introduced and the construction was forced to step down. Later the construction work was completed in 1963 leaving a lot of Rahman’s design unfinished. It was inaugurated on February 21, 1963 by the mother of Abul Barkat, Hasina Begum. The Minar was severely damaged during the Bangladesh Liberation War in 1971. The columns were demolished with firing.[Imam, Jahanara, Ekattorer Dingulee.pp.44] Pakistan Army crushed the Minar and placed there a signboard written ‘Mosque’ on it.
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