Memorials left to decay
The metal chains fencing the memorial have long gone. Empty chips packets, ice-cream covers, soft drink cans, disposable plastic cups, banana peels and paper waste lay strewn all over the floor.
Weeds have grown on the boundary wall and at the edge of the stairs. Dry leaves and dead branches cover the entire concrete base. The acrid smell of urine wafts out from a corner.
A closer look at the barely legible inscription on the decaying plaque nearby reveals that it is the memorial of Shaheed Dr Shamsul Alam Khan Milon.
Dr Milon, former joint secretary of Bangladesh Medical Association, laid down his life here in the heart of Dhaka University during the anti-autocracy movement in 1990.
This is how many memorials in the capital have been left at the mercy of the weather and vandals.
The decrepit state of the monuments not only testifies to the sheer negligence on the authorities' part, but it also says a lot about the sense of respect lacking in our society and poor appreciation of history.
Every year, government and non-government organisations hold events to honour the nation's bravest souls and place wreaths at the monuments. As days go by, everybody apparently forgets to take steps to preserve the memorials.
"It is very unfortunate," said Mofidul Haque, a trustee of the Liberation War Museum.
"The memorials are the places where people come to show respect. I feel bad when I see people and even the students of Dhaka University have peanuts at Dr Milon's memorial and leave the shells there."
Mofidul added that the authorities' role in protecting the monuments is very crucial, but the responsibility of the general people is no less.
Talking to The Daily Star, Supriya Das, acting estate manager of Dhaka University, acknowledged that the onus is on the university authorities to ensure the monument's upkeep.
"We usually clean the area ahead of any programme. But no one is employed to guard it," she said, adding, "I will take the matter into consideration."
She, however, said the authorities alone cannot ensure maintenance of the memorial. People should behave responsibly and help preserve the dignity of the place.
Like the Milon memorial, many other monuments in the capital, built in commemoration of the sacrifice of the valiant sons and daughters of the soil, are in a sorry state.
Shaheed Asad memorial, for example, was built in 1990 in front of Dhaka Medical College Hospital to recognise the contribution of Asaduzzaman who was killed at this place during the mass upsurge of 1969.
Thanks to the negligence of the authorities, the memorial is now hardly recognisable except for the plaque that reads: "Asad Chetona Chiro Bohoman; Rokto theke Rokte".
Recently, these correspondents found two youths leaning against the fence of the memorial. Asked if they knew about the place, one of them replied, "Yes I know, because I am a resident of this locality. It is Shaheed Asad's plaque."
Locals said whenever the Asad Day comes, the entire area is tidied up. People place wreaths, give long speeches. For the rest of the year, the memorial remains uncared for and becomes a haven for drug addicts and anti-social elements.
To preserve the memories of Asad and the 1969 mass upsurge, the authorities concerned decided to construct a museum outside the DMCH emergency gate.
SMA Faiz, the then vice chancellor of DU, and Sadeque Hossain Khoka, former mayor of Dhaka City Corporation, had laid its foundation on January 20, 2008.
The construction of the two-storey building started in 2009 and was supposed to be completed in June last year. Regrettably, the work has stopped more than a year ago for what the authorities say are fund constraints.
"We are taking measures to complete the work despite the fund crisis," said Ansar Ali Khan, chief executive officer of Dhaka South City Corporation (DSCC).
The historic Amtala, where the language movement activists gathered on February 21, 1952, has now become almost untraceable.
None will ever be able to know about the place unless he or she reads the signboard hanging atop a DMCH gate that most of the time remains closed.
A red arrow mark on the signboard indicates the place beneath -- a place now crammed with snacks shops.
"We have been selling snacks here for the last five years," said an employee of a shop. He, however, could not say anything about how he got the permission. "Ask my owner."
The Zero Point at the city's Gulistan was renamed Noor Hossain Chattar in memory of Noor Hossain who was gunned down by police at this place on November 10, 1987 while in a procession against the then autocratic regime of HM Ershad.
The chattar, a concrete structure rechristened to remind people of the youth's great sacrifice to restore democracy, is completely obscured by banners and posters.
Similar is the condition of Shikkha Odhikar Chattar pillar.
It was built near the High Court intersection in 2008 in memory of the sacrifices of Mostafa, Babul, Wajiullah and other students who were shot dead by police while protesting against the education commission formed by the Ayub Khan regime in 1962, and also those who were killed during the autocratic rule of Ershad.
Like Noor Hossain Chattar, it is also covered in posters, while the inscription on the plaque has started to fade.
On the Bangla Academy premises, a bust of National Poet Kazi Nazrul Islam stands all covered with bird droppings. It gets the authorities' attention only when the Ekushey book fair arrives.
Contacted, Bangla Academy Deputy Director (Public Relations) Murshid Anwar said, "We clean up the statue for the Boi Mela and on other occasions. From now on, we'll try to keep it clean always.”
A road stretching from Kataban to Hatirpool was named after Major MA Jalil, commander of sector-9 during the Liberation War. The memorial tablet has long been lying broken on the road divider at Kataban intersection. People cross the intersection often treading on the structure.
Another nameplate on the opposite side of the intersection is barely identifiable, as it stays cloaked in posters.
DSCC CEO Ansar Ali said the city corporation is indeed responsible for keeping the memorials in good condition, but it does not have enough staff for the job.
He then added that the citizens too should play their part in the effort to preserve the sanctity of the memorials.
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