War hero memorial on verge of collapse
The road is rough, the memorial building dilapidated: plaster is peeling and iron rods protrude. To visit the historic home and sole memorial honouring national hero Birshrestha Hamidur Rahman, in his native Khordakhalispur village of Jhenidah's Moheshpur upazila, is to wonder what it really means to honour a hero, a martyr of the Liberation War.
Born second among his siblings in 1954, Hamidur Rahman joined the Liberation War while serving in the then East Bengal Regiment. On 28 October 1971 as he fought Pakistani occupation forces on the Dhali frontier in Sreemangal in the Sylhet region, Hamidur Rahman sacrificed his life for the country.
To commemorate his sacrifice the memorial building was established on three decimals in his native village in 1981. Since then however, the building has not been maintained. Nowadays the condition of the memorial is so dire that the roof is at risk of collapse.
“An engineer from Jessore cantonment visited the house in 2015,” says Hamidur Rahman's nephew Hafizur Rahman. “He proposed a Tk 48 lakh plan to construct a new building in remembrance of my uncle. But nothing has come of it.”
“There was also a plan to rename Khordakhalispur village as Hamidnagar in his honour,” says Hamidur Rahman's younger brother Fazlur Rahman. “Back in 2007 a declaration on the renaming was made by Bir Uttam C.R. Dutta, a Liberation War sector commander. But sadly nothing has happened since.”
“It's very difficult to reach the historic home of Birshrestha Hamidur Rahman,” says one visitor, Monirul Islam from Jhenidah town. “The road is damaged and has hundreds of potholes in it. The authorities should repair the road as soon as possible.”
Former freedom fighter commander Md Kamruzzaman of Jhenidah says the file concerning the maintenance and construction of a memorial for Hamidur Rahman is with the Public Works Department. “Building construction work will start as soon as the department hands over the file,” he says.
Moheshpur Upazila Nirbahi Officer Ashafur Rahman meanwhile says he is unaware of the matter.
Comments