The National Memorial was built in Savar, outside the capital, as an embodiment of the sacrifice the martyrs made for the country's independence in 1971. But the beauty of the structure standing tall with dignity is partially lost from view as illegal structures did not spare it either.

Around 1,000 makeshift shops have been set up illegally on the footpath along the south-western edge of the 84-acre memorial complex and a funny game of evicting those traders twice a year, once on Victory Day (December 16) and the other on Independence Day (March 26), has been on play for the last 10 years.

On Tuesday, the reporter visited the area and found over 20 makeshift restaurants, 50 fruit shops, and several hundred shops of garment items, shoes, cosmetics and other stuff on Dhaka-Aricha highway. The front of the gate, which should welcome visitors with its beauty, now houses a shop for renting cars.

The situation did not even escape the eye of little visitor Sheikh Helaluzzaman Sonik, who had heard a lot about the memorial. On Thursday when he was returning to Dhaka with his father from Rangpur and their bus stopped for a while before the memorial, Sonik tried to have a glimpse of the memorial but could not see it properly because of the structures.

Moreover, the kid asked his father, "Why is this not clean, father?" A waiter at the restaurant, Rakibul Islam, said his employer paid Tk 100 per day to the representatives of a hawkers' association named "Bangladesh Hawkers League".

Other shop owners pay between Tk 50 and Tk 200 per day, which later get distributed among the association members, police and officials in the administration, said many shop owners, seeking anonymity. Around Tk 10 lakh is collected this way every month, they added.

Even though there is a small room, which the traders claimed is the association's office, none was found there on that day. But the room bears a signboard with the association's name written on it.

Md Hamiduzzaman, traffic inspector of Nabinagar area, said neither he nor any of his staff was involved in collecting the money. "The outside area belongs to the Roads and Highways Department (RHD), and it is their duty to free the area, not ours," he added.

Md Muhibul Haque, executive engineer of RHD, Manikganj, said the shops were makeshift, so if police wished they could evict the traders. "It is not possible for us to keep an eye on the road throughout the year."

The twice-a-year eviction is conducted by the memorial management with the help of police. When asked why they do not run eviction drives year-round or permanently solve it, an official wishing anonymity said, "There is a powerful chain behind this. I will get fired if I even try to get into this."