Rajshahi’s First Shaheed Minar

In the immediate aftermath of February 21, 1952, residents of Rajshahi went to work and built a Shaheed Minar near the Muslim Hostel premises of Rajshahi Government College.

The Shaheed Minar still stands today, though not with as much prestige as Dhaka's Central Shaheed Minar is afforded. In fact, the entirety of Rajshahi city doesn't have a Central Shaheed Minar, which means on the International Mother Language Day, people pay homage to the martyrs at the ones at Bhubanmohan Park Memorial and the court area.

In light of this, Language Movement veterans started demanding the preservation of the Muslim Hostel Shaheed Minar, which led Rajshahi City Corporation to take up a project in this regard in October 2018.

One Sabera Enterprise was tasked with the construction works, which were slated to be completed by June 2020.

But four-and-a-half years have passed by and the project is yet to finish.

According to RCC, the work was estimated to cost Tk 50 lakh, which was later revised midway. Owner of Sabera Enterprise Zulfikar Haider told this correspondent they completed the foundation works for the project at a cost of Tk 35 lakh.

However, he alleged that the city corporation is yet to pay his bills, which has compelled him to suspend the works.

Contacted, RCC Executive Engineer Nur Islam claimed the project has been halted as they want to redo the minar with an improved design. "We will restart the works soon," he said.

Meanwhile, Rajshahi lawmaker Fazle Hossain Badsha said he doesn't know the reasons behind the project's delay. He also mentioned that he has allocated Tk 50 lakh for the project.

RCC Mayor AHM Khairuzzaman Liton blamed the delay on working in an "unplanned way", mentioning that they are taking up a new project to construct a separate Central Shaheed Minar spending Tk 16 crore.

"We've already got the allocation. We'll be inviting tenders within a month or two," he said, adding that they are on the process of acquiring Rajshahi Zilla Parishad land to build the minar.

Talking to The Daily Star, former principal of Rajshahi Government College Prof Habibur Rahman said, "The works should not be delayed as it is concerned with the memory of Language Movement veterans. This Shaheed Minar was the first of its kind in Rajshahi, and thus it should be preserved for the future generations."