Plans afoot to preserve sites linked to 1972 war

Bangladesh has taken a project to preserve 360 historical places of the 1971 Liberation War aimed at letting the new generation know the glory and facts of the history of 1971 war.
“We have taken a project worth 1.82bn taka to preserve 360 historical sites of 1971 to imbue the new generation with the spirit of the Liberation War,” said Mominur Rahman, assistant chief of Ministry of Liberation War Affairs. 
The government will also set up a Liberation War memorial museum at each of the 360 historical sites, he said.
A proposal has been sent to the Planning Commission last month for its approval which is now under process, he said, adding that the project is expected to be completed by June 2019. 
The government has earlier built 65 Liberation War memorial monuments at 36 sub-districts in different parts of the country. 
The High Court in a judgment directed the government to identify and preserve all the important historic places related to the republic’s Liberation War.
The High Court ordered the government to take steps to protect and maintain the historic places at Suhrawardy Udyan where Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman delivered his historic speech on March 7, 1971 and where Pakistani army surrendered on December 16, 1971.
Suhrawardy Udyan also includes places where Bangabandhu gave his speech on January 10, 1972, after his return to the country from exile, and where Indira Gandhi, then prime minister of India, greeted Bangabandhu on March 17, 1972.
The court also asked the government to form a committee to identify the important historic places and then remove the structures, if any, from those places at Suhrawardy Udyan.
The committee will include historians, freedom fighters, anthropologists, sector commanders, and the persons who were present at the time when Pakistani army surrendered to the freedom fighters, the court said.
The High Court ordered to identify and preserve all the historic places and martyrs’ killing grounds across Bangladesh and to set up monuments there in memory of them, if possible.