Bangladesh Shaheed Minar

The Man Behind The Shaheed Minar

There is a tragic history behind the Central Minar.In 1948 Mohammad Ali Zinnah of West Pakistan declared in a conference in Dhaka, "Urdu and Urdu shall be the state language of Pakistan." This was a plot and attack on our culture and language.Then students of our counter began a movement against this declaration.They brought out procession demanding of declare Bengali as the state language of Pakistan.The government of Pakistan was strict on its decision and declared curfew. It was 21st February, 1952. Breaking the 144 section,the students took procession.Near Dhaka Medical College Hospital police fired upon the procession and Salam, Barkat, Rafiq, Jabber and some other students died on the spot. There after, central Shaheed Minar was built to make the memory of the martyrs of the martyrs immortal. Hamidur Rahman was the man who gave shape to the concept and design of the Shaheed Minar, by combining all the aspirations of Bengali identity and nationalism. He was the first art student of  Bangladesh who in the 1950s went to Europe and studied at "Ecole de Beaux Art" in Paris. He was the pioneer of the new painting movement of the then Pakistan.