Photo : Messenger
In March of 1971, the innocent Bengalis of East Pakistan were killed by the Pakistani raider forces. As a witness to that black night, the country's only cluster sculpture, 'Genocide of '71 and Preparation for the War of Liberation' created by renowned artist Rasa, stands. The sculpture is located in front of the new academic building at Jagannath University.
It is known that during the liberation war, the people were arrested and killed inside Jagannath College (now Jagannath University) by the Pakistani military. After the murder, mass graves were arranged and given here. Later, the sculpture was built on the mass grave as a memorial to that brutal massacre.
The construction of the sculpture began in 1988 and was completed in 1991. Rajiv Siddiqui, Rumi Siddiqui, Ibrahim Khalilur Rahman, and Mia Malek Redwan were the assistants of the famous sculptor Rasa in the construction of the sculpture. On March 31, 2008, the Vice-Chancellor of the University, Dr. Sirajul Islam Khan, inaugurated it.
The sculpture is divided into two different parts. One part of it is witnessing the genocide of 1971, and the other part shows the preparation of the great liberation war. In the preparation of the great liberation war, with the participation of people from all walks of life, it can be seen in the preparation of the liberation struggle with various weapons like bows, spears, etc. They are preparing for war by turning these useful things into weapons. Some are also preparing for war with modern weapons.
The other part of the sculpture depicts the merciless massacre of the Pakistani military forces. In this part, the scene of brutal torture of Pakistanis by Bengalis can be seen. It can be seen that Yahya Khan is drunk, pregnant mothers are being tortured, and dead bodies are being left everywhere. A leafless tree on which a vulture is sitting is also shown to depict the brutal scene of the liberation war. It reminded everyone of the brutality of the invading forces in the 1970s.
Under the sculpture, there is water, which signifies riverine Bangladesh. And inside the water there is the Bengali alphabet, through which the spirit of the language movement has been highlighted. It means that the success of the language movement of 1952 sowed the seeds of independence among the people of Bengal.
It is known that Bhaskar Rasa wanted to express the history of the liberation war in five parts. They are the Genocide of 1971, the preparation of the Liberation War, assassins, attacks, and the victory of freedom fighters. Among these, two aspects have been highlighted in this sculpture of Jagannath University.
Messenger/Imran/Sumon
