<i>School kids set up Shaheed Minar on their own</i>

Students of Jaldhaka Primary School in Nilphamari recently built a Shaheed Minar on the school premises with their own contributions.Photo: STAR

Primary school children in a remote area of Jaldhaka upazila under the district have built with their own efforts a Shaheed Minar, memorial for the 1952 Language Movement martyrs who worked as source of inspiration for later mass movements including the 1971 Liberation War.
The kids, students of Jaldhaka Registered Girls' Primary School, were inspired by the recent call from Shahbagh in the capital to set up Shaheed Minars on the premises of all the educational institutions in the country.
Imran H Sarker, convener of Bloggers and Online Activists Network, which launched movement at Shahbagh for capital punishment to the 1971 war criminals, made the call at a rally on February 19.
"The students of my school regularly watch the TV and so, they are aware of the developments of Shahbagh movement. Inspired by the call from there on February 19, the kids met me on the next morning and expressed desire to set up a Shaheed Minar on the school ground,” said Akram Parvez, headmaster of Jaldhaka Registered Girls' Primary School.
"I told them that there was no fund for construction of a permanent Shaheed Minar and it would take time to arrange money for the purpose. But the enthusiastic children stunned me, saying that they themselves would contribute to raise fund ion and set up a Shaheed Minar within February," he said.
Meantime, the students made a makeshift Shaheed Minar with banana trees on the school premises and put flowers on its foot on February 21 in honour of the 1952 Language Movement martyrs.
At teachers' suggestion, students formed a five-member committee headed by class IV student Jesmin Aktar who asked all 160 students of the school to bring Tk 15 each by persuading their parents, sources said.
Thus Tk 2400 was collected and teachers' contributions were added to it. Working for two days, the students helped by the teachers built a small sized Shaheed Minar in front of the school building on February 25.
School students Shakila, Shithi Aktar, Nasrin, Purnima Roy, Masura, Simla, Eti Moni and others said that they will paint the Shaheed Minar afterwards to make it look beautiful.
They said they are happy to have a permanent Shaheed Minar where they can pay honour to the martyrs every year.