The first Shaheed Minar in Sunamganj, built in 1966, has been demolished. In its place, a memorial pillar is being constructed. Students have expressed outrage over this.

A green circle with a red sun inside it. In front of the red-green structure stands a pedestal. This is the Shaheed Minar at Sunamganj Government College. The college authorities have demolished this Shaheed Minar.

This nearly 60-year-old Shaheed Minar has been torn down, and a memorial pillar is being built in its location.

In demand of halting the memorial pillar construction and restoring the Shaheed Minar to its original state, a memorandum was submitted to the principal yesterday, Tuesday. On Wednesday, former students of the college will form a human chain on the campus for the same demand.

Sunamganj Government College was established in 1944 in the Hashan Nagar area of Sunamganj municipal town. It was nationalized in 1980. On the occasion of the college's 75th anniversary, a reunion festival for former students was held on the campus on February 7 and 8, 2020. To preserve the memory of this event, a decision was made to construct a memorial pillar on the campus. Subsequently, the Public Works Department (Education) took the initiative to build it. Construction of the memorial pillar at the government college began about a month ago.

Now, with many protesting the demolition of the Shaheed Minar, the college authorities are trying to shift the blame to the Public Works Department (Education). The department, however, states that they are constructing it at the location designated by the college authorities and had no role in selecting the site.

Saifur Rahman, a freedom fighter who served as vice president of the Sunamganj Government College Students' Union in 1973-74, rushed to the college yesterday afternoon upon hearing about the demolition and spoke with the principal. He informed that this Shaheed Minar was built at Sunamganj Government College in 1966 in memory of the Language Martyrs. It was the first such minar constructed in the district for the Language Martyrs. During the 1971 Liberation War, Pakistani forces demolished it. After independence, student leaders rebuilt it.

The executive engineer of the Public Works Department (Education) in Sunamganj, Kamruzzaman, said, "The design of this memorial pillar, named 'Sunam Phalak,' was done by Bhaskar Hamiduzzaman. Similarly, a memorial for the 125th anniversary of Sunamganj Government Jubilee High School has been constructed. Now, construction is underway for two memorial pillars for the 75th anniversaries of the town's Satish Chandra Balika High School and Sunamganj Government College. The estimated cost for the college's memorial is 36 lakh taka."

Kamruzzaman added, "The college authorities themselves designated the location. The decision to demolish the old Shaheed Minar and build the pillar there was made by the college authorities to construct another Shaheed Minar. The Public Works Department had no role in this. We advised building it inside near the main gate on the northern side, but the college authorities did not agree. The district administrator, Mohammad Elias Mia, also discussed this with me. Afterward, the work has been halted," he informed.

In this regard, Sunamganj Government College Principal Mahbubur Rahman said, "This is being done by the Public Works Department (Education). They selected the location." After hearing the engineer's comments, he added, "Actually, we told them if work could be done here. They agreed, so the work is proceeding. No one said anything for so long. Now many are speaking up. I am not against history or heritage. I will discuss this with the engineer."