Sanctity of Shaheed Minar
Photo: Tanvir Ahmed / driknews
My recent trip to Shaheed Minar shocked me to the power infinity. I could not find any match with the image aired on television every 21st February and the one right before my eyes. Considering this is Bangladesh, I was less than half expecting the National Monument being embellished with fresh beautiful bouquets in the middle of November, but expecting a decent and honourable scene at such a historically blotted place isn't too much! Many know the sacrifices we made to make Bangla our sole mother tongue. Few realize that Bangladesh is the first country to ever fight for linguistic freedom and fewer know how to respect it…everyone there was walking around in shoes. People made it an ideal place for gossiping, smoking. Young couples were romancing on the staircase right beneath the moment. These people have grown up reading the clause 'commemoration for the martyrs' in their school textbooks but they never understood the line. Their behaviour is a total disgrace to the nation. Just visiting the national monument with a bouquet, decorating the base with 'alponas', walking bare feet only on 21st February because it's the International Mother Language Day, is not the way of paying tribute to the martyrs. These should be maintained throughout the year. Definitely, 21st February is to be celebrated to remember the importance of mother language but at the and of the day the reminder doesn't work. Everyone starts behaving indifferently and treats Shaheed Minar like any other venues in the city. Everybody talks of independence respectfully; write great articles and speeches of the glorious victory, airs intense talk shows on historical days but they miss reading between the lines. No one should forget the origin of independence which started with the birth of this Monument.
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