The forgotten heroes
While Dhaka's streets ran red in 1952 during the historic Language Movement, another torch flared in Pabna.
Students of Pabna Edward College, undeterred by threats, marched in protest, with their campus becoming the site of the district's first Shaheed Minar, a monument to remember the language heroes. However, today, this piece of history lies forgotten, with most current students oblivious to their college's pivotal role and the monument's silent disappearance.
A large Shaheed Minar now stands at the site.
This is a story of unsung heroes, a fading memory, and a call to preserve the legacy of those who fought for their mother tongue.
The people of Pabna defied the Pakistan government's ban on honouring language heroes by erecting a temporary Shaheed Minar in the Pabna Edward College premises.
"Every year we gather at College Shaheed Minar to honour language martyrs, but nobody told us about the historical significance of the previous monument," said Hasan Mahamud, a former student of Pabna Edward College. "It's disappointing that the college authority hasn't taken steps to preserve the memory of the Language Movement and the first Shaheed Minar."
Professor Abdul Alim, a Language Movement researcher, said, "The people of Pabna defied the Pakistan government's ban on honouring language heroes by erecting a temporary Shaheed Minar on the Pabna Edward College premises."
"On February 21, 1955, the Pakistan regime launched a crackdown on students who were paying tribute to the language martyrs at the Shaheed Minar. Many were arrested, mostly Chhatra League and left-wing activists," Alim, also a teacher in the Bangla department at Pabna University of Science and Technology, added.
Pabna Edward College students, including Abdul Momin, Azahar Ali, and Kamal Lohani, played a crucial role in the 1952 Language Movement.
The seeds of the Language Movement were planted in Pabna in 1948, when the Pakistani parliament rejected Dhirendranath Dutta's proposal for Bangla as the state language.
Local progressive and nationalist leaders, like Dewan Lutfor Rahman and Aminul Islam Badsha, led the protests, which included hartals and agitations.
Pabna Edward College emerged as a central hub for organising the Language Movement. Many of its students were arrested between 1948 and 1952.
The original Shaheed Minar of 1952 was replaced by a concrete Shaheed Minar on the college campus in 1957. This new structure also served as a focal point for organising all movements during the pre-liberation war period, said Shibojit Nag, a former teacher and student of the college.
"The presence of a large Shaheed Minar is not a bad thing, but the original monument has been lost in time due to the authorities' negligence. The new generation should know about the glorious past of this institution," he added.
Mahabub Hossain, secretary of the teachers association of Pabna Edward College, claimed the college authority organises numerous programmes annually to keep the memories of language heroes alive.
He said the new Shaheed Minar is enough to pay tribute to the Language Movement martyrs and activists.
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