A monument was constructed in Cox’s Bazar nine years ago to remember local brave-hearts who made the supreme sacrifice for Bangladesh in 1971.
But issues like alleged negligence in the monument’s construction and maintenance, excluding names of martyrs and not inaugurating it, have given rise to many questions and disputes.
It was constructed at a cost of Tk11 lakh in 2006 beside the central Shaheed Minar. Although it includes names of 10 martyrs, the first martyr from the district and many more have been reportedly left out.
Those named are Abdul Hamid, Golam Kader, Golam Sattar, Capt Maqbool Ahmed, Siddik Ahmed, Habilder Abul Kalam, Izahar Mia, Sepoy Lal Mohammad, Shamsul Alam and SM Jahangir.
Those left out include Cox’s Bazar’s first martyr Mohammad Sharif Chairman, martyred intellectual Shaheed Saber, Dhaka University’s Iqbal Hall martyr ATM Jafar Alam Chowdhury, Sepoy Aktar Hossain who protested against unloading weapons for Pakistanis at Chittagong Port.
Others include Enamul Haq, Amir Hamza, Subhash, Forhad, Ilias Master, Habilder Rahim Baksh, Meser Ahmed, Jonab Ali, Bhotto Mohajon, Sepoy Abul Hossain, Master Shah Alam, Master Ahmed Bashir, Kabir Ahmed, Ajit Pal, Nirmal Dhar, Mohammad Ali, Piyari Mohajon, Swapan Bhattacharya, Manindra Nath Dey, Nurussafa Chowdhury, Janendra Lal Chowdhury, Satish Mohajon Dey, Mohammad Shamsul Islam, Abdus Sattar, Anil Kanti Das, and Shashanka Barua.
Cox’s Bazar Nazrul Academy General Secretary Amirul Islam Md Rashed said the monument had been neglected since the beginning and that many organisations had been demanding inclusion of names of all martyrs from the district.
“Although several names were included hastily, many more were left out. We have been demanding their inclusion but for some unexplained reason, our demand is not being met,” he added.
Member of Udichi’s Cox’s Bazar unit Foysal Mahmud Sakib said the monument was to introduce the new generation with martyred freedom fighters. “If names are excluded, the new generation will be confused. That is why we demand including names of all martyrs within the shortest possible time and inaugurating it,” he said.
Joy Bangla Bahini 71 chief and the district’s first armed resistance organiser Kamal Hossain Chowdhury said there was a fair bit of controversy. “What is the need for such a monument where the district’s first martyr has been ignored? The Zilla Parishad and municipality only looted money,” he alleged.
About dropping names of martyrs, he said a nine-member committee, led by him was formed two years ago. Local MP, deputy commissioner and police superintendent were its members. “But nothing happened, nobody assisted,” he claimed.
Nazrul Islam Chowdhury, one of the Liberation War organisers, said: “History will never forgive us if names of martyrs are left out. Many are not named in the monument. A pro-liberation government is in office and we hope it will look into the matter cordially.”
Deputy commander of 1971 Liberation War in Cox’s Bazar and Bandarban, Capt (retd) Abdus Sobhan brushed off the allegations, saying, “There is no question of controversy over the monument.”
Sobhan said they had included names of 10 martyrs they got from the beginning. “I do not know if there are any other martyred freedom fighters in Cox’s Bazar. We can amend the list in that case.”
