The Liberation War Affairs Ministry launched the “Mobile Liberation War Museum” last year to inspire the new generation about the history of the great liberation war. The ministry spent over Tk3 crore to buy a pair of luxury buses and paid Tk1 crore more to convert the buses into mobile museums.
As per plan, the buses are supposed to be operated across the country to exhibit wartime material before youths and students. Visitors can read books on the Liberation War and watch movies to gain the spirit of independence, but the operation of the museums has been hampered due to various reasons.
Nowadays, the museums are mostly kept in a garage at Bangladesh Muktijoddha Kalyan Trust at Tejgaon in Dhaka instead of reaching out to people across the country.
“Lack of manpower, excessive operational cost and coordination gap are hampering its smooth operation,” said Dr Md Asaduzzaman, the project director.
Officials at the Liberation War Affairs Ministry, however, claimed that the mobile museums were currently being exhibited at different educational institutions in Kishoreganj.
“The museums were mostly dysfunctional because of Covid-19 cases, when all the educational institutions were closed. But now it is functional and gaining popularity among the youths and students,” Asaduzzaman claimed.
Liberation War Affairs Minister AKM Mozammel Haque inaugurated the two mobile museums at Suhrawardy Udyan on March 7 last year. The initiative was taken under the ministry’s Tk49-crore project aimed at inspiring the new generation. The project began in October 2018 and will be completed by June this year.
According to ministry officials, there are two parts to the project – the establishment of a mobile museum and conducting different events in line with the spirit of the Liberation War at educational institutions. Until December last year, the progress of the project was below 70%. The authorities have already appealed for extending the deadline up to June 2023.
Looking for a private operator
Operating a museum is not easy as it requires a curator and some staff who can present the contents before the audience, officials say.
It is necessary to maintain the museums as each bus consists of a large screen and a sound box on the outside, and also has a collection of miniature replicas of monuments with historical significance.
The miniature replicas displayed inside the buses include the National Memorial, the Central Shaheed Minar and the Mujibnagar Memorial along with many other artifacts from the war.
“The project staff currently exhibit the museums before students and audiences. Once the project ends, someone will be assigned from the ministry or appointed from outside to keep the operation smooth,” said the project director.
“It has a fuel cost to travel across the country, but there is no fund for it,” he added.
“We are thinking of handing the mobile museums over to the Liberation War Museum to keep them functional. We are also thinking of proposing to the Education Ministry as the students are the main audience,” he told Dhaka Tribune.
The Liberation War Affairs Ministry currently arranges exhibitions for students in coordination with the educational institutions and local administration.
Delaying an exhibition is very common as the Education Ministry takes more time to select educational institutions and get permission from the local administration.
“Transforming a bus into an attractive museum is a great success of the ministry as it can present the authentic history of the War of Independence before the new generation,” said Secretary Khaja Miah of the Liberation War Affairs Ministry.
“We’ll be working to keep the museums functional unless any agencies are willing to operate them,” he told Dhaka Tribune.