Shoal children build temporary Shaheed Minars

A competition was held yesterday on making temporary Shaheed Minars on the occasion of the Martyrs’ Day and the International Mother Language, featuring children from local marginal families in Rasulpur shoal within Kirtankhola river in Barishal.

More than 100 children and adolescents participated to construct 15 temporary Shaheed Minars as part of the daylong event. Special prizes were awarded to encourage the participants.

The event was jointly organised by Samajtantrik Chhatra Front and the Shaheed Altaf Mahmud Smriti Pathagar.

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The competition has been held consistently for the past 15 years with children from working-class families, said Dr Manisha Chakraborty, one of the organisers.

The event also included a free medical camp, a discussion meeting and the honouring of a freedom fighter, she added.

Using bamboo, paper, cloth and other temporary materials, the children built their Shaheed Minars blending imagination with creativity.

“I feel very happy to have participated in the competition,” said Mim, one of the young participants.

Sujon Ahmed, convener of the Barishal metropolitan unit of Samajtantrik Chhatra Front, presided over the event, and physician Dr Ahida Sultana, cultural figures Arup Gautam and Arup Roy, and cultural activist Mostafizur Rahman attended, among others.

Comrade Khalequzzaman Bhuiyan, veteran freedom fighter and chief adviser of the Bangladesh Samajtantrik Dal (BSD), spoke among others.

The children’s efforts would help nurture historical consciousness and patriotism, the speakers said.

Participants demanded government initiatives to construct a permanent Shaheed Minar at the local primary school in Rasulpur, establish libraries and expand cultural programmes in low-income colonies.

Freedom fighter and cultural personality Nazrul Islam Chunnu was posthumously conferred the Shaheed Altaf Mahmud Memorial Award at the event.