CU liberation memorials losing grandeur

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Saturday, 04 February 2012

Author / Source : RAHAT RAFY

CHITTAGONG, FEB 3: The liberation war memorial installations on the Chittagong University (CU) campus have started getting damaged for want of proper maintenance and care by the university authorities. Students of the university, including the political activists, are pasting posters and hanging festoons on the installations to meet their personal interests.
Besides, regardless of respect to the war heroes in whose memory the installations were made, the students get on their platforms wearing sandals to take photographs.
Visitors who come to enjoy picnic on the campus also treat the installations in the same manner.
The CU authorities have taken very few measures to protect the magnificence of these installations.
However, experts termed it ‘humiliating’ to the honor of the freedom fighters and the liberation war of the nation.  
According to sources, the authorities after the establishment of CU set up four liberation war installations at different places of the campus with a view to paying honour to the freedom fighters and recollecting the memories of the country’s liberation war, the golden history of the nation.
The authorities of the university with a view to preserving the heroic manner of the freedom fighters symbolically installed a ‘Shaeed Minar’ at the center of the campus adjacent to Business Administration Faculty. 
A ‘Buddhijibi Chattar’ (Intellectual Square) was also placed beside the Shaheed Minar with view to paying homage to the intellectuals who were brutally killed by the occupation forces in 1971.
On the other hand, a Smarak Vaskarja (commemorating statue) was also installed before the Arts and Humanities Faculty of the campus.
However, CU authorities established an installation named ‘Smaran’ (remembrance) to recall the memories of the freedom fighters and martyrs of the university in its main gate area.
Though the installations were established to pay honor to the freedom fighters’ sacrifices, the students of the university and visitors use these as places of gossiping.
The students’ forum and political organisations of the university uses the wall of the ‘Smaran’ to suspend their organization’s posters and festoons.
Along with this the authorities also hang their festoons of different programmes at the wall of the installations. As a result, the installations remain covered by the festoons and banners round the year.
On the other hand ‘Shaheed Minar’ is located at the center of the university campus. Students and the visitors are seen taking pictures getting on it with sandals. The students of the university also take the places as a center of gossiping. The scenario is also same for the Smarak Vaskarja, another installation of the university. 
While talking The Independent, General Secretary of Chittagong University Teachers’ Association (CUTA) and Associate Professor of Communication and Journalism Department of the university Ali Asgar Chowdhury said that the liberation war and language movement based installations of the country have deep symbolic meanings.
He said that people who have patriotic sense must have honor to the installations as those were established to remember the sacrifices of the heroic sons of the country.
Those who abuse these installations are not actually patriotic, he opined.
The voice is same from the part of Professor of Bangla Department of the university Dr. Mahbubul Hoque.
Terming the people those degrade the liberation war based installations opportunists Mahbubul Hoq said “We should have to understand the sense of the establishments.”
Assistant Proctor of the university Ziaur Rahman said that it is a matter of sense that would not be formed forcefully among the people. If the students and the visitors feel the meaning of the installations they must obey it.
“The authorities of the university hung a signboard beside the Shaheed Minar asking the visitors and the students of the university not to get on it or to use it as a place of gossiping,” he added.