ONE of the wisest things to do when visiting a new place is to visit the museums. It can tell you about who the people are and how their past molded the present. Personally, I find it more engaging to walk down the halls and get captivated by the visual displays and not just flip through the pages of a history book from a chair.
If there’s one facet about Bangladesh that I noticed, it is how they frame their independence, which they won not too long ago. They take pride in it. Yes, it was tragic, a path stained with blood. The museums and monuments were created to commemorate the people and these events, and stand as reminders of how much sacrifice it took to win the nation’s freedom. It's worth a visit.
Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Memorial Museum. This museum in Dhanmondi, Dhaka, was once the residence and the base of operations of Sheikh Mujibur Rhaman, the founding father and President of Bangladesh. This was also the site where he and members of his family were assassinated on the night of August 15, 1975.
The residence was handed to a daughter of Bangabandhu, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, who gave it to the Bangabandhu Memorial Trust to run the place as a museum.
Featured on the ground floor are photographs of Bangabandhu interacting with heads of states and government personalities, a drawing-room where he welcomed his guests and a study where he drafted and released the declaration of independence in 1971.
Much of the past was kept intact -- the blood stains on the windows and the stairwell, photographs, one room holds memorabilia.
In 2011, the Sheikh Lutfar Rahman and Sheikh Sayera Khafun Gallery was opened, an annex of the museum named after Bangabandhu’s parents. In the three floors, a themed collection of photographs features the life and works of the nation’s father: “Revolt” tells of his childhood, entry to politics and life during Pakistani rule; “Victory” relates of liberation and independence; and “Thinker” showing the man’s achievements and family life.
The Liberation War Museum. This 1996-established museum focuses on the heroic struggle of the Bangladesh nationals toward independence. With an expansive collection of rare photographs, documents, war artifacts, and print and electronic media materials of the Liberation War’s freedom fighters and martyrs, the museum was moved to its current home in Agargaon, Dhaka, in August 2016.
The new museum offers more display space for permanent and temporary exhibitions, a library and research center, an amphitheater, auditorium, etc.
In four galleries, the history and struggle of Bangladesh is chronicled through photographs and memorabilia. From a brief visit of this ancient past, to the formation of East and West Pakistan, the landslide victory of the Bengali nationalist forces on the first Parliamentary elections in
1970, the genocide that transpired after, the resistance and eventually, victory and emergence of a better nation.
With the museum’s well-curated and highly interesting presentation of Bangladesh history, it will be successful in its aim to make the new generations aware of their forefather’s fight for freedom and encourage them to take a firm stand against violations of their human rights.
National Martyr’s Memorial. About 33 kilometers from Dhaka City is a memorial dedicated to the martyrs of the Liberation War. Three million nationalists fought with their lives to win a nation’s freedom and their sacrifice is immortalized in this shrine. It was Sheikh Mujibur Rahman who laid the monument’s foundation stone.
The 34-hectare complex in Savar includes an expansive green space, open air stage for performance arts, reception hall, mosque and the towering monument.
Designed by Architect Syed Mainul Hossain, who bested other entries in a 1978-design contest, the monument’s concept is a phoenix rising from the ashes. The structure, composed of sevenisosceles triangles arranged to look like a single structure, tapers skywards to 45 meters in height.
Each triangle is said to represent one of the seven national movements that led to Bangladesh independence, which started in 1952 with the Bengali language movement and the liberation movement as the culmination.
The monument, which appears to touch the sky with its pointed tip, is said to signify the courage of the people, the victory, and triumph that ink the dead and the living in an eternal bond.
Just like history, everything happens for a reason. I don't believe in coincidences. Finding myself in Bangladesh, seeing the place, learning its history and culture, meeting the people, and writing about it may spark interest in others to visit this South Asian nation soon.
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