By IANS,
Dhaka : Suhrawardy Udyan, the huge park in the heart of the national capital where the Pakistan Army surrendered to the Indian and Bangladeshi forces in 1971, is set to have a string of memorials to mark the country’s independence.
The historic park was the venue where the Pakistan Army surrendered to the Indian and Bangladeshi forces Dec 16, 1971.
The country’s founding father Sheikh Mujibur Rahman gave a speech there, calling for independence March 7, 1971. He arrived there Jan 10, 1972, to a tumultuous welcome after nine months in Pakistani prison.
A week later, he received the then Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi.
Precisely three months later, March 17, 1972, he bid farewell to the last contingent of the Indian armed forces who had helped in the liberation and suffered 5,000 casualties.
Each spot is to be identified and “suitable memorials” erected, the High Court directed the government Wednesday.
Justice A.B.M. Khairul Haque and Justice M. Mamtaz Uddin Ahmed also ordered the authorities concerned to form a committee, with the representatives of politicians, historians, anthropologists and sector commanders of the liberation war, within three months to identify the historic sites, New Age newspaper said.
The court directives were issued on a writ petition filed by General (retd) K.M. Shafiullah, a former army chief who fought in the 1971 war and historian Muntasir Mamun, seeking preservation of two national heritage sites in the park.
The court observed: “Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman is not only the father of the nation but also the architect and symbol of the independence of the country.”
The park has a century-old history. Laid during the British era as the military club of the British soldiers, the park was called the Ramna Race Course ground and later, Ramna Gymkhana.
During the Pakistan era, it came to have a memorial to the 1954 movement against Urdu’s imposition and for Bengali language and culture. It was named after Husein Shaheed Suhrawardy, chief minister of undivided Bengal during the British era who later became prime minister.
It is the resting place of three national leaders, Sher-e-Bangla A.K. Fazlul Huq and two Pakistan prime ministers, Khwaja Nazimuddin and Suhrawardy.
It was also the site of the centuries-old Ramna Kali Mandir, a Hindu temple and a Dhaka landmark that was razed to the ground by the Pakistan Army March 27, 1971 in a massacre that led to the death of over 100 people.