On this day, Shaheed Minar, a martyrs’ monument, was built in Dhaka to honour those killed in the Bengali language movement protests in the previous two days. But the monument was demolished by the Pakistani police a few days later.
Students of Dhaka University, Dhaka Medical College and political activists were killed on February 21 and February 22, when the Pakistani police fired on protesters demanding official status for Bengali. The protesters decided to build the monument overnight in the barracks that served as a hostel for Dhaka Medical College students. It was designed by Badrul Alam, a medical student. It was 10.5-feet tall.
Several monuments were built to honour the martyrs later. After Bengali received official status in 1954, a second monument was built in the same place as the 1952 monument. But this, too, was demolished by Pakistani forces during the Bangladesh Liberation War of 1971. Now a third monument has been built near the original one. The current Shaheed Minar is located near Dhaka Medical College Hospital and in the Dhaka University area. The first monument had been located in the south-east corner of the present Shaheed Minar premises.
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