Shafiur Rahman ( bn, শফিউর রহমান) (24 January 1918 – 22 February 1952) is considered in
Bangladesh
Bangladesh (}, ), officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the eighth-most populous country in the world, with a population exceeding 165 million people in an area of . Bangladesh is among the mos ...
to be a martyr of the
language movement which took place in the former
East Pakistan
East Pakistan was a Pakistani province established in 1955 by the One Unit Scheme, One Unit Policy, renaming the province as such from East Bengal, which, in modern times, is split between India and Bangladesh. Its land borders were with India ...
.
Early life
Shafiur Rahman was born in
Konnagar
Konnagar is a town and a municipality of Hooghly district in the state of West Bengal in India. Konnagar has a railway station that connect with Howrah. It is under Uttarpara police station in Serampore subdivision. It is a part of the area co ...
, near
Serampore
Serampore (also called ''Serampur'', ''Srirampur'', ''Srirampore'', ''Shreerampur'', ''Shreerampore'', ''Shrirampur'' or ''Shrirampore'') is a city of Hooghly district in the Indian state of West Bengal. It is the headquarter of the Srirampor ...
, in
Bengal Presidency
The Bengal Presidency, officially the Presidency of Fort William and later Bengal Province, was a subdivision of the British Empire in India. At the height of its territorial jurisdiction, it covered large parts of what is now South Asia and ...
,
British Raj
The British Raj (; from Hindi ''rāj'': kingdom, realm, state, or empire) was the rule of the British Crown on the Indian subcontinent;
*
* it is also called Crown rule in India,
*
*
*
*
or Direct rule in India,
* Quote: "Mill, who was himsel ...
. His father's name was Hakim Mahabubur Rahman and his mother's name was Kanayata Khatoon. He graduated from Konnagar High School in 1936 and completed his I. Com at Government Commerce College in
Kolkata
Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , the official name until 2001) is the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal, on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River west of the border with Bangladesh. It is the primary business, comme ...
. After the
partition of India
The Partition of British India in 1947 was the Partition (politics), change of political borders and the division of other assets that accompanied the dissolution of the British Raj in South Asia and the creation of two independent dominions: ...
he moved to Dhaka,
East Bengal
ur,
, common_name = East Bengal
, status = Province of the Dominion of Pakistan
, p1 = Bengal Presidency
, flag_p1 = Flag of British Bengal.svg
, s1 = East ...
, taking a job as a clerk in the accounts section of the
Dhaka High Court
The High Court Division, Supreme Court of Bangladesh ( bn, হাইকোর্ট ডিভিশন) popularly known as the 'High Court' is one of the two divisions of the Supreme Court of Bangladesh, the other division being the Appellate D ...
.
Bengali Language Movement
On 22 February 1952 while commuting to his job on his bicycle he entered
Nawabpur Road
Nawabpur Road is a road in Old Dhaka, Old Dhaka City, Bangladesh, and is associated with the Shankhari Bazaar, Shankhari and Gulistan bazaars. It is a busy road often jammed with rickshaws, human drawn carts, and foot traffic.Book, Development Fiel ...
, which was full of protesters against police shootings the previous day at a language movement rally. Police fired at the protests and Rahman was shot in the back; he died after being taken to
Dhaka Medical College
Dhaka Medical College and Hospital (abbreviated DMCH) is a public medical college and hospital located in Dhaka, the capital city of Bangladesh. It houses medical school as well as a tertiary care hospital on one campus.
The country's first eve ...
. He was buried in Azimpur graveyard under police guard.
Legacy
Two days after the incident, the first
Shaheed Minar was inaugurated by his father, Hakim Mahbubur Rahman, along with the protesting students of
Dhaka University
The University of Dhaka (also known as Dhaka University, or DU) is a public research university located in Dhaka, Bangladesh. It is the oldest university in Bangladesh. The university opened its doors to students on July 1st 1921. Currently i ...
.
In 2000 Rahman was awarded the
Ekushey Padak
Ekushey Padak ( bn, একুশে পদক; lit. "Twentyfirst Award") is the second highest civilian award in Bangladesh, introduced in memory of the martyrs of the Bengali Language Movement of 1952. The award is given to recognize contribut ...
by the government of Bangladesh.
A bronze sculpture of his head with four other "martyrs" of the language movement is called ''
Moder Gorob
Moder Gorob or Our Pride is a sculpture situated in front of Bangla Academy building in Dhaka, Bangladesh. It was dedicated to the memory of those killed during the Bengali Language Movement demonstrations of 1952, when protesters demanding Ben ...
'' and located in
Bangla Academy
The Bangla Academy ( bn, বাংলা একাডেমি, ) is an autonomous institution funded by the Bangladesh government to foster the Bengali language, literature and culture, to develop and implement national language policy and to d ...
premises.
Gallery
References
External links
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Rahman, Shafiur
1918 births
1952 deaths
People from Hooghly district
Bengali language activists
Recipients of the Ekushey Padak
Burials at Azimpur Graveyard