In Konnagar of Hooghly, the neglected birthplace of language martyr Shafiur!
Photo: Barta24.com
A group of daring boys from the then East Pakistani city of Dhaka, in 1952, challenged the barbaric Pakistani policemen for the recognition of Bengali as the state language. The streets of Dhaka were covered in blood. In commemoration of that day, on November 7, 1999, the United Nations recognized February 21 as 'International Mothers’ Language Day'. People all over the world remember this day as 'Language Day' with reverence.
Among the brave martyrs of that bloody struggle who gave their lives for the honor of their mother tongue, were young men like Rafiq, Jabbar, Shafiur, Salam, Barkat. Among them, Shafiur Rahman was a man from the other side of Bengal. Their house on the GT Road near Konnagar in Hooghly district of West Bengal still stands as the birth place of martyrs in great neglect and disrespect!
It is a matter of great regret that the birthplace of a language martyr is facing destruction today. This great language martyr was born on January 24, 1918 in Konnagar. Shafiur Rahman's father was the superintendent of Dhaka Post and Telegraph Office. After completing his studies at Konnagar High School and passing ISC from Calcutta Government Commercial College, Shafiur moved to Dhaka with his family in 1948. He was working as a clerk in the Dhaka High Court. On the morning of February 21, 1952, Shafiur also joined the protest rally demanding the mother tongue as the state language.
Thousands of language lovers including Rafiq, Jabbar, Salam, Barkat, Shafiur started protesting demanding Bengali as the state language in Dhaka University by defying section 144. The people of Dhaka city participated in that protest rally that day. The angry Pakistani police fired indiscriminately to disperse the protest, leaving the bodies of the daring boys on the ground. That morning, the road in front of the university turned into a river of blood. But even that did not stop the protest struggle. Their mortal struggle grew fiercer and fiercer. Finally, on 7 May 1954, the Government of Pakistan recognized Bengali as the second state language of East Pakistan. Since then, this day has been observed with respect by the two Bengals across the country. But the biggest regret is that Shafiur Rahman, one of the fighters of that deadly struggle, who was born in Hooghly, West Bengal, India, his birthplace is still standing in great disrespect and neglect.
Recently, in memory of the great patriotic thinkers of West Bengal, their birthplaces and places of work have been recognized by the government and turned into places of pilgrimage, but no one remembers Safiur Rahman, who was martyred on the soil of Dhaka in 1952. The school where Shafiur studied, a small Shahid altar has been constructed by the municipality on one side of the Konnagar High School along the GT Road. Every year, a few people who knew Shafiur Rahman, who knew about the story of the language movement, offer a few handfuls of flowers to the martyr's altar on the morning of 21.
Much to the regret of the people of Konnagar, such a great language martyr was born in this town, studied in Konnagar High School here as his first lesson of education, nobody remembers him today. Locals demand that Shafiur's house should at least be preserved or if a minaret is built in the city in his memory, then every Bengali across the geographical boundaries can share the glory. Also, the history of the language struggle will be immortalized!
