The police and military shot dead dozens of protesters and arrested many others on February 21-22 in 1952 to suppress the Language Movement that reached a peak demanding the inclusion of Bangla as an official language of Pakistan.
On the morning of February 23, the medical students who were organizers of the movement planned the construction of a monument to commemorate the martyrs. Three of them were shot on the hostel premises. Two students -- Badrul Alam and Sayeed Haider -- designed it the same day, and the 10-foot structure was completed overnight.
In the afternoon on February 26, a heavily-armed police team barricaded the hostel; some entered the premises with tools to destroy the monument. While leaving the place, they took away the brick chips and cement structure on their truck.
The previous day, the government closed down Dhaka University for an indefinite period, had the dormitories that became the powerhouse of the movement vacated, and continued the arrest of the organizers and activists of the protests. Eventually, the movement lost its momentum due to a lack of active leadership. But the martyrs' sacrifice was to play a role in the victory of the Jukto Front alliance at the provincial elections in 1954.
Monuments erected everywhere
In the days following the sacrifices of the protesters on February 21-22, 1952 many monuments were built elsewhere, especially at educational institutions across the country. Students observed Martyrs' Day and organised rallies and processions on the premises of their institutions.
But no steps were taken to rebuild the Shaheed Minar of the medical barracks until 1956.
In 1953, the medical students set up a temporary replica of the first Shaheed Minar, using paper and covering it with black cloth. They placed flowers at the altar and began organising Probhat Feri or barefoot march towards the monument.
The same year, another symbolic monument was built on the Curzon Hall premises. But similar attempts by the students of Eden College and Dhaka College were thwarted by the government and college authorities.
Bangla finally got recognition as a state language on May 7, 1954. Later, the constitution of Pakistan, adopted in 1956, acknowldged Bangla as the second official language after Urdu on February 29 of the year.
Hamidur's design
In early 1956, the Abu Hossain Sarkar-led government announced the construction of a permanent monument at the medical college hostel, known as the “medical barracks”, and declared a holiday on February 21 as Martyrs' Day.
On the night of February 20, enthusiastic students and the commoners had the foundation stone laid by Barison, the daughter of rickshaw-puller Abdul Awal, who was martyred in police firing on February 22, 1952.
The next morning, the construction work was inaugurated officially by Chief Minister Abu Hossain Sarkar, Awami Muslim League President Maulana Abdul Hamid Khan Bhasani and martyred Dhaka University student Abul Barkat's mother Hasina Begum.
The construction of the Shaheed Minar finally began in 1957 following the design and instructions of acclaimed painter and academic artist Hamidur Rahman and Novera Ahmed. He designed a massive Shaheed Minar complex on a large tract of land.
In the design, there was a half-circular column as a symbol of the mother and her martyred sons standing on the dais in the main part of the monument, Language Movement veteran Ahmed Rafiq writes. “Many yellow and deep blue pieces of glass were to be embedded in the column as symbols of eyes from which the rays of the sun would be reflected. Besides, there was to be a railing adorned with the Bangla alphabet in front of the monument complex and also two footprints, one red and one black, symbolizing the two opposing forces.”
The design also included a museum, a library and a series of mural paintings. At one end, there was supposed to be an eye-shaped fountain with a high undulating platform.
Hamidur Rahman, assisted by sculptor Novera Ahmed, supervised the construction. During this time, the basement, platform and some of the columns were completed. The rails, footprints, some of the murals, and three sculptures by Novera Ahmed were also finished. “However, the construction was stopped after martial law was promulgated in 1958. Despite this, people continued to visit the Shaheed Minar to place floral wreaths and hold meetings,” writes Ahmed Rafiq.
The construction work resumed in 1962 under the initiative of the then governor of Pakistan, Lt Gen Azam Khan, but it ended in a hurry, curtailing the main design. It was inaugurated by Barkat's mother Hasina Begum on February 21, 1963. The Ayub Khan regime was in power at the time.
Yet the incomplete structure became the symbol of the Language Movement spirit.
The unfinished monument
During the 1971 Liberation War, the Pakistani military in its genocidal fury destroyed the monument and hung the sign of a mosque at the spot, but it could not stop the people from visiting the place.
In 1973, the government rebuilt the Shaheed Minar, but artist Hamidur's design was not followed.
The subsequent military regime also approved a new design of the monument, but the plan was not executed. The regime took another extensive initiative to build a complete Shaheed Minar in 1983, but the plan faltered too.
In an article, Language Movement activist Ahmed Rafiq said: “The unfinished Shaheed Minar has still been standing afoot, carrying the signs of negligence. It is shameful and unfortunate that the monument has faced wreaths of opponents even after independence…its humiliation at the hands of selfish politicians has not stopped.
“It stands like a massive tree giving shade…inspiring and strengthening…nourishing the roots of nationalistic spirit. For this, the Shaheed Minar has faced the ire of the fundamentalists…we are not aware of it enough. Yet the Shaheed Minar is alive and will remain alive. The Shaheed Minar…the monument of the memories [of the martyrs] has no death in this country.”
