12/19/2016

Gloryofthebravestsonsneglected,illnurtured

Glory of the bravest sons

neglected, ill-nurtured
Published: 21:55, Dec 19,2016

ANY discussion on the highest war-time gallantry award, Bir Shreshtha, and the
seven recipients, freedom fighters who were honoured with the award for their
utmost bravery and dying in action in the nations war for independence in
1971, is something that commands respect in the national collective. The
government, eight years ago in 2008, therefore, took up initiatives to set up
memorial museums and libraries at places of birth of the seven most valiant
heroes from the army, captain Mahiuddin Jahangir in Barisal, sepahi Hamidur
Rahman in Jhenaidah and sepahi Mostafa Kamal in Bhola; from the navy, engine
room artificer Mohammad Ruhul Amin in Noakhali; from the air force, flight
lieutenant Matiur Rahman in Narsingdi; and, from the erstwhile Bangladesh
Rifles, lance naik Munshi Abdur Rauf in Faridpur and lance naik Nur Mohammad
Sheikh in Narail. The main objective was to preserve the memories of the
freedom fighters so that people do not lose sight of the significance of what the
seven heroes did for the nation. But the deplorable condition and the neglect
which the museums and libraries now face, and have faced all these eight years,
as New Age reported in a series in December 1018, come to be concerning,
defeating the purpose of their establishment.
Almost of the museums and libraries are reported not to have permanent
caretakers and librarians and such a situation only makes visits to the places
hardly satisfying. While some of the museums and libraries, with broken
furniture, are in a shabby condition, in some, it rains through the roof, making
them places best avoided during the rains. While a few of the places remain
inaccessible because of rickety or broken roads, some of them remain darkened
for lack of proper power supply. Two of the libraries have already been at risk
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12/19/2016

Gloryofthebravestsonsneglected,illnurtured

of river erosion. A conspicuous absence, rather than the presence, of articles and
objects having memories of the freedom fighters is what marks the museums
more. The same is the case with the libraries in scarcity of books. All that has
happened to the places in the eight years are no reckoning of a proper national
collective. Memorial museums and libraries at least in the cases at hand, where
they appear to have been poorly and improperly maintained, have thus proved
futile in helping to contribute to the national consciousness. But we need the
heroes, as much as the museums and libraries built in honour of them, because
they nurture people when they are young, educate them about what is right and
what is wrong and reveal to them the qualities to be in communion with others
and to succeed in life.
In such a situation, the government has a greater role to play in keeping alive,
on the collective memory of the nation, all that that it has gone through by
ensuring that such places built in honour of war heroes and associated with
their memories are properly looked after, nurtured and promoted. These places
lead people to introspection of a sort, forcing them to remember the national
glory to secure a better future.

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