A Shaheed Minar

I love my country .
Central Shaheed Minar is the national monument of Bangladesh. It is located near Dhaka Medical College Hospital and in the Dhaka University area. It is a Historical place, 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. Every year on February 21 many people come here to show respect as well as all year round. The Shaheed Minar was designed and built by Hamidur Rahman, a Bangladeshi sculptor.

February 22-1952The first Shaheed Minar was built immediately after the events of February 21, 1952. According to the main planner and the designer of the first Shaheed Minar, the decision to build it was first made by the students of Dhaka Medical College. Shaheed Minar is situated near Dhaka Medical College Hospital and in the Dhaka University area. It is adjacent to the Mathematics department of Dhaka University. It is only 0.5 kilometers (0.3 mi) away from Shahbag and 0.25 km (0.16 mi) distant from Chankharpul. Shaheed Minar is an outstanding monument of Bangladesh. It was built to tribute the martyrs who given up their life for language. The main incident had been occurring inside of Dhaka medical college hospital. So a decision was taken to build a memorial adjacent to DMCH. The planning started at midnight on February 22, and the work started the next day. This Minar was sponsored by Pearu Sardar, one of the old Dhaka panchayet sardars, when some of the students asked his help at midnight of 22 February, to contribute the raw materials needed to build the monument. Although curfew was in place, students started building the Minar in the afternoon of February 23. They worked through the night and finished it at dawn. A hand written paper was attached to the Minar with “Shaheed Smritistombho” written on it. The original Minar measured 10 by 6 feet (3.0 m × 1.8 m).

The Minar was inaugurated by the father of Sofiur Rahman, killed during the massacre. It was demolished within a few days by the police and Pakistani Army. Smaller versions of the memorial were built in other places of the country. Two years after the first monument was destroyed by the police, a new Shaheed Minar (Monument of Martyrs) was constructed in 1954 to commemorate the protesters who lost their lives. This Minar (monument) was inaugurated by Natyaguru Nurul Momen. Work on a larger monument designed by the architect Hamidur Rahman began in 1957 with the support of the United Front ministry.