National Memorial replica in Addu
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina unveils a replica of Bangladesh's National Memorial at Hithadoo in the Maldives yesterday. Photo: PID
The memories of Bangladesh's liberation war have travelled a long way to the Maldives and are now showing off through a replica set up on the sunny Indian Ocean island of Addu City, the official venue for the 17th Saarc Summit, which ended yesterday. Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina inaugurated a nine-foot tall and four-foot wide steel replica of the National Memorial, weighing 110 kilograms, yesterday. Addu City Mayor Abdullah Sadig was present on the occasion among others. The replica, depicting Bangladesh's national pride for the independence war of 1971, was brought by sea to Hithadoo, the southernmost small island of Addu. “This is the first time a replica of the National Mausoleum has been set up outside Bangladesh”, architect Hamiduzzaman Khan, creator of the replica, told the news agency. Khan has returned to Dhaka after seven days' of work in the island. The foreign ministry sources said the war memorial model is a part of a Saarc endeavour to set up the best-known national logo of every member nation at Hithadoo. All the Saarc member states have set up their respective replicas at strategic locations along the 10km Gan-Hithadoo Road in the island, a major tourist destination for the Europeans. “Initially we have thought about different options, but we finally found the national mausoleum as the best-known model that represents Bangladesh the most”, said an embassy official. The National Memorial was originally designed by architect Syed Moinul Hossain.
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