Zia Memorial Museum | |
---|---|
জিয়া স্মৃতি জাদুঘর | |
General information | |
Type |
|
Address | Shahid Saifuddin Khaled Road, Kazir Dewri, Chittagong |
Country | Bangladesh |
Coordinates | 22°20′54″N91°49′26″E / 22.3482315°N 91.8238808°E |
Completed | 1913 |
Client | British Raj |
Owner | Bangladesh National Museum |
Technical details | |
Floor count | 2 |
Website | |
ziamuseum |
Zia Memorial Museum, also known as Old Circuit House was a circuit house building. Ziaur Rahman, the seventh president of Bangladesh, was assassinated in the building in 1981. Today it is a museum. It is located in Chittagong, Bangladesh.
In 1913, the British Raj authority established the circuit house in Chittagong which was used as a residential building for government officials. Seven years after the establishment of the state of Pakistan, on 5 June 1954, the newly established broadcasting center of Radio Pakistan in the city started its journey from this building. [1] During the liberation war in 1971, the Pakistan Army chose Chittagong Circuit House as their military base. They converted several rooms of the building into torture cells. They used to torture Bengalis in these rooms. From the circuit house area later skeleton skulls of some freedom fighters who were tortured by electric shock in this building were found. Moreover, girls were raped and tortured in this building. Raped girls were killed by the Pakistani army when they became pregnant. The bodies of the victims were later thrown into the well adjacent to the area. [2] On 17 December 1971, [3] after the day of the surrender of the Pakistani army and the liberation of Chittagong, the flag of Pakistan on the flagpole of the Circuit House building was lowered and the flag of Bangladesh was flown by Rafiqul Islam. At that time people gathered in front of Circuit House to welcome the freedom fighters. [4]
In 1981, President Ziaur Rahman, founder of Bangladesh Nationalist Party, reached the Circuit House building on 29 May to resolve the dispute between the leaders of the local wing of his political party. At that time, Colonel Matiur Rahman planned to capture Ziaur Rahman and bring him to Chittagong Cantonment to demand the demotion of Hussain Muhammad Ershad who was the then army chief of Bangladesh Army, and the army officers who had not participated in the 1971 war on their behalf and returned from Pakistan after the liberation war. For that purpose, on the night of 30 May, when the soldiers supported by Colonel Matiur Rahman and Lieutenant Colonel Mehbubur Rahman advanced towards the circuit house building, a fight started between Zia's security forces and them. At one stage the attackers forcibly took Ziaur Rahman out of a room in the building and Colonel Matiur Rahman shot him dead. [5]
Four days after Ziaur Rahman's death, a proposal to make the building a museum was approved by the ministry of Abdus Sattar. It was then inaugurated during the First Khaleda ministry on 6 September 1993. [6] The museum is currently closed. [7]
Here Ziaur Rahman's complete life is presented in 17 galleries that saw at least 150 visitors to the museum daily. The museum preserves the site where Ziaur Rahman was killed and the wall where the bullet hit when Colonel shot Zia. There is a replica of his mausoleum, his personal belongings [8] and the stretcher that carried Zia's body. [9] The microphone used by M. A. Hannan and Zia to broadcast the Proclamation of Bangladeshi Independence at the Kalurghat Radio Center is preserved in this museum. [10]
On 11 February 2019, Awami League politician Mohibul Hasan Chowdhury expressed the desire to rename the museum to Liberation War Memorial Museum. He felt that the building is a witness to the torture of victims by the Pakistani army during the liberation war and that's why its name needs to be changed to show the people the real contribution of the building to history. Khandkar Mosharraf Hossain, a politician of Bangladesh Nationalist Party, opposed his proposal. [2] The next day, a group of members of Bangladesh Chhatra League and Jubo League erased Zia's name from the signboard of the museum and hung a picture of Mohibul there. They then organized a human chain in the museum area. [11]
On 6 September 2021, Murad Hasan, the then Information Minister, said that the museum would be moved from its current location and the building would be converted back into its former state and the microphone housed in the museum would be sent to Kalurghat radio centre building. [10] On 28 October of that year, AKM Mozammel Haque, the Liberation War Affairs Minister, said in a meeting that official documents related to the conversion of Chittagong Circuit House into Zia Memorial Museum could not be found. He also announced a plan to its removal from its current location and build a new bigger museum and also assured to discuss with the administration how to preserve the existing museum building. [8]
On 4 May 2022, Mohibul said in an event that although many efforts were made to change its name, the Ministry of Culture did not take initiative to change the name. He called upon the Swachhasebak League to conduct the mass signature process for the purpose of changing the name. [12] A week after this, the mass signature program was held. [6] Three days later, Chhatra League staged a human chain in Chittagong demanding the name of Zia Memorial Museum be changed to Freedom Fighters Museum. [13] On 22 June 2022, the leaders of the Chittagong metropolitan section of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party demanded that the museum be opened to all, which has been closed for several days so far. [7]
Ziaur Rahman was a Bangladeshi military officer and politician who served as the President of Bangladesh from 1977 until his assassination. He was the founder of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) and served as its chairman until his assassination. He previously served as the second chief of army staff from 1975 to 1978 with a minor break.
Independence of Bangladesh was declared on 26 March 1971, celebrated as Independence Day, from Pakistan. The Independence Day of Bangladesh is celebrated on 26 March when Sheikh Mujibur Rahman declared the independence of Bangladesh. The Bangladesh Liberation War started on 26 March and lasted till 16 December 1971 which is celebrated as Victory Day in Bangladesh. There is a dispute along partisan line on who declared the Independence of Bangladesh. The Awami League claim Sheikh Mujibur Rahman while the Bangladesh Nationalist Party claim it was Ziaur Rahman.
Kalurghat is located several miles north of the port city of Chittagong, Bangladesh, and is mostly famous for several heavy industries located there. A bridge near Kalurghat on the Karnaphuli River connects Chittagong city with the southern parts of the district.
Abu Taher was a Bengali military serviceman, who served in the Pakistan Army, and later in BDF. He crossed into India around early August and reported to the Indian authorities. After a week screening at Dehradun, India, Taher reported to Kolkata, Bangladesh Provincial government at 8 Theatre Rd. He was ordered to report to Sector 11 of Mukti Bahini under command of Major Ziaur Rahman, he became the sector commander after him. He served in BDF from end of August to 2 November 1971. He was awarded the medal Bir Uttom for his gallantry in the liberation war. He was released from military service by Indian military medical board in Pune, India after his leg was amputated. After independence, he was inducted into the Bangladesh Army for administrative retirement with legacy rank of lieutenant colonel. After settling in with family, the government of Bangladesh appointed him with employment at Kumilla. Later Taher turned into a political activist and leader of the left-wing Jatiyo Samajtantrik Dal.
Bangladesh has undergone several changes of government since the Proclamation of Independence in 1971. Between the first recorded uprising in August 1975 and the last known attempt in December 2011, Bangladesh has been through as many as 29 military coups.
The Bangladesh Liberation War started on 26 March 1971 and ended on 16 December 1971. Some of the major events of the war are listed in the timeline below.
Ziaur Rahman, the sixth president of Bangladesh, was assassinated by a faction of officers of Bangladesh Army, on 30 May 1981, in the south-eastern port city of Chittagong. Rahman went to Chittagong to arbitrate in a clash between the local leaders of his political party, the Bangladesh Nationalist Party. On the night of 30 May, a group of officers commandeered the Chittagong Circuit House, a government residence where Rahman was staying, shooting him and several others.
Muhammed Abul ManzurBU was a Bangladeshi military officer who commanded the Bangladesh Forces operations in Sector 8 during the Bangladesh Liberation War against Pakistan in 1971. He was allegedly involved in the assassination of the then-president of Bangladesh, Ziaur Rahman. The erstwhile chief of army staff and alleged mastermind of Rahman's assassination, Hussain Muhammad Ershad, had put a standing shoot-to-kill order on Manzur's life—he was killed shortly after being captured at the border. About a year later, Ershad initiated a bloodless coup d'état and took over the central government, holding power until 1990.
Swadhin Bangla Betar Kendra was the radio broadcasting centre of Bengali nationalist forces during the Bangladesh Liberation War in 1971. This station played an important role in the liberation struggle, broadcasting the Declaration of Independence and increasing the morale of Bangladeshis during the genocide. In 1971, radio was the only media reaching the far ends of Bangladesh. The station ran a liberation campaign throughout the liberation war.
The independence of Bangladesh was declared on 26 March 1971, at the onset of the Bangladesh Liberation War by Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman; the following day the declaration was broadcast by Major Ziaur Rahman from Swadhin Bangla Betar Kendra radio station in kalurghat, Chattogram. On 10 April, the Provisional Government of Bangladesh issued a proclamation on the basis of the previous declaration and established an interim constitution for the independence movement.
Bangladeshi nationalism is an ideology that promotes the territorial identity of Bangladeshis. The ideology emerged during the late 1970s, popularized by former Bangladesh President Ziaur Rahman. The history of nationalism in the country dates back to the colonial era, when the region started witnessing anti-colonial movements against the British Empire. Soon, a sense of religious nationalism began to emerge which was later revolutionised into ethnolinguistic nationalism. Following independence of Bangladesh in 1971, leaders like Ziaur Rahman began to promote Bangladeshi nationalism which was based on territorial attachment of Bangladeshis. Politically, Bangladeshi nationalism is mainly professed by the center-right and rightist political parties in Bangladesh, led by Bangladesh Nationalist Party.
The movement demanding trial of war criminals is a protest movement in Bangladesh, from 1972 to present demanding trial of the perpetrators of 1971 Bangladesh genocide during the Bangladesh Liberation War from Pakistan.
The Mausoleum Complex of Ziaur Rahman is a significant architectural engineering monument located in Sher-e-Bangla Nagar of Dhaka city in Bangladesh. The monument hosts the grave of Ziaur Rahman, the 7th president of Bangladesh, who is famous for reading proclamation of Bangladeshi Independence through Kalurghat radio centre on 27 March 1971. He was a notable Leader in the south Asian region of the 20th century. The monument was constructed by GBB Limited with consultation of Bashat Architects Engineers Ltd and executed under the Public works department and department of architecture.
Ashuganj Fertilizer and Chemical Company Limited is a Bangladesh government owned company fertilizer company. It is under the Bangladesh Chemical Industries Corporation of the Ministry of Industries. Ashuganj Sar Karkhana College is college affiliated with the company.
Lt. General Ziaur Rahman's tenure as President of Bangladesh started with his acquisition of the presidency from Abu Sadat Mohammad Sayem on April 21, 1977, after the latter resigned from his position on health grounds.
Mohsin Uddin Ahmed was a Brigadier General of the Bangladesh Army and recipient of Bir Bikrom, the third highest gallantry award of Bangladesh, for his actions during the Bangladesh Liberation War. He was the senior most official of Bangladesh Army executed for the assassination of Ziaur Rahman.
The Majumder–Zia family, or simply the Zia family, is one of the two most prominent Bangladeshi political families, alongside the Sheikh family, which leads Bangladesh Nationalist Party. Members of the family include – Ziaur Rahman served as army chief and later President of Bangladesh and Khaleda Zia as Prime Minister of Bangladesh, while several others have been members of the parliament.
Abu Yousuf Mohammad Mahfuzur Rahman, also known as A.Y.M. Mahfuzur Rahman, was a Bangladeshi army officer who served as a sub-sector commander during the Bangladesh Liberation War. In 1981, he was executed for his alleged involvement in the assassination of president Ziaur Rahman.
Jamil Haque was a Captain in the Bangladesh Army who was executed for his involvement in the assassination of president Ziaur Rahman.
Matiur Rahman, also known as Motiur Rahman, was a Lieutenant Colonel in the Bangladesh Army who was involved in the assassination of President Ziaur Rahman on 30 May 1981. He is believed to be the one to have shot and killed President Ziaur Rahman. Matiur was subsequently killed in a shootout with troops loyal to the government on 1 June 1981.