State Minister for Education Mohibul Hassan Nowfel says he is in favour of changing the name of the old Circuit House at Chattogram to “portray the important history of the Liberation War for the future generation.”
The Circuit House known as “Zia Memorial Museum” was named after military dictator and BNP founder Ziaur Rahman, who himself was killed there during a military coup on May 30, 1981.
Although it has been preserved by the state, Nowfel feels that Zia’s name and his death overshadows the many atrocities committed here by the Pakistani Army during the 1971 War of Liberation.
The state minister is in favour of naming the historical place as ‘Liberation War Memorial Museum’ and in addition to proposing the change to the government also plans to present it in the Parliament.
“This circuit house was the command centre of the Pakistani army during the 1971 war and they used to operate from here,” Nowfel told Bangla Tribune.
He added that many rooms of the building was used as cells to hold and torture freedom fighters and pro-Liberation people while some were used to hold and rape women.
“There are many mass graves here in addition to equipments from Swadhin Bangla Betar Kendra” he said, adding that the Circuit House will be transformed to a war memorial museum to “Educate people about the correct history.”
The Chattogram Circuit House is an integral part of the history of Bangladesh’s long struggle for freedom from Pakistan but people have no way of knowing that, according to education ministry officials.
They say for people, the building is mostly the place where Ziaur Rahman was killed and without changing the name, it’s not possible to let people know its true history.
The BNP described it as an effort to “wipe out” its founder’s name.
Speaking to Bangla Tribune, National Standing Committee member Khandaker Mosharraf Hossain said it was a ploy on the government’s part to “Wipe out Ziaur Rahman’s name from the country.”
“The people will not accept it but then again this government doesn’t care about what the people will accept and won’t,” he said.
The senior BNP leader added that no matter what the government does, Ziaur Rahman will always be in people’s heart.