The construction work of the July Martyrs Memorial started on Monday after the demolition of the Bangabandhu Memorial Mural at Bakultala in Jashore.
Deputy Commissioner of Jashore Azharul Islam inaugurated the construction work of the project around noon.
The memorial will be inaugurated on August 5.
This project is a joint initiative taken by the Ministry of Cultural Affairs, the Ministry of Liberation War Affairs, and the Housing and Public Works Division. The estimated cost of the project is Tk 14 lakh. The memorial will be 18 feet tall and 6 feet wide. And the slogans of the historic July Uprising will be engraved on the pillars, according to district administration sources.
The engravings will serve as a testament of the protest, courage, and resistance of the people, said officials involved in the project.
The demolition of the mural honouring Sheikh Mujibur Rahman to construct the July Martyrs Memorial has caused some controversy on social media. Awami League supporters have objected to the move, as well as cultural activists who said the mural had become part of the area's culture.
When the mass uprising culminated in the ouster of the Awami League government on 5 August last year, protesters partially vandalised the mural.
Later, on 6 February this year, another group attempted to demolish it for the second time by using hammers, shovels, and an excavator, but failed to do so.
On Saturday and Sunday, the authorities completely destroyed the mural using excavators from the municipality.
Jashore Deputy Commissioner Azharul Islam said, "Like the rest of the country, Jashore is constructing this memorial to honour the martyrs of July. In 1971, we achieved independence through bloodshed against foreign oppressors, but in July 2024, we had to fight against a fascist force from within our own country. A new history has been written through sacrifice.
"This memorial will remind future generations of our courage, sacrifice, and determination. It will serve as an inspiration."
Additional Police Superintendent Abul Basar, Jashore District BNP General Secretary Delwar Hossain Khokon, Jamaat-e-Islami's District Secretary Maulana Abu Jafar Siddiqui, and Nagarik Party leader Nuruzzaman, father of July martyr Abdullah, Abdul Jabbar, and July activists Masum Billah and Ahad spoke at the event.
Zahidul Islam, executive engineer of the Public Works Department; Rafiqul Hasan, administrator of the district development and local government office and Jashore municipality; Mohammad Shams Golam Hossain, postmaster of Jashore Head Post Office; Nurshed Ahmed Bhuiyan, senior jail superintendent of Jashore Central Jail; and Zahid Hasan Tukun, president of Jashore Press Club also attended the ceremony.
Sohanur Rahman Sohag, a leader of the Anti-Discrimination Student Movement, moderated the event.
On August 15, 2009, freedom fighter Ashok Roy created a temporary paper mural of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman at an intersection in Jashore.
The then district administrator (deputy commissioner) Mohibul Haque visited the site with a delegation of local dignitaries and pledged to replace it with a permanent one.
Two days later, on August 17, then chairman of Manirampur upazila Swapan Bhattacharya placed a proposal to construct a "Bangabandhu Smriti Mural" at the district law and order committee meeting.
The proposal was unanimously approved.
The 16-foot-tall mural was designed by Tasneva Rahman Mumu, a student of BUET's Architecture Department. Assistant Professor at Dhaka University's faculty of fine arts Abdul Aziz was the lead artist.
The construction of the mural was completed in 2012 at a cost of Tk 29,09,095.
The mural remained the country's largest until another mural of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman in Chattogram took the title in 2016.
Comments