International Mother Language Day or Bhasa Divas on February 21, is observed in Konnagar in a special way. While all over Bangladesh and also in West Bengal memorial meetings are held to remember the language martyrs, Rafiquddin Ahmed, Abul Barkat, Abdus Salam and Abdul Jabbar, at Konnagar, in Hooghly, one other little known martyr and a son of the soil is remembered.
For the past two years, Konnagar has been paying homage to Shafiur Rahman on Bhasa Divas. Born and brought up in Konnagar, Shafiur Rahman, was another martyr in the Language Movement who was killed on February 22, 1952. In Bangladesh, his name features in the list of martyrs who laid their lives for the Bengali language.
Shafiur Rahman’s predecessors had been residents of Konnagar for over 200 years. According to Rathin Chakraborty, former principal of Bagula College in Nadia and also a local historian, “Shafiur Rahman’s father, Mahbab-ur-Rahman, was a gazetted officer in Konnagar in undivided Bengal. Shafiur was his eldest son. They owned land and property in Dharsa area of Konnagar. Shafiur had studied in Konnagar High English School, now known as Konnagar High School, from where he passed his Matriculation in 1937.” After the Partition of Bengal, Mahbab-ur-Rahman chose to shift to Dhaka, when Muslims in India were given the option of living here or moving to East Pakistan.
“In Dhaka, Shafiur took admission in Dhaka Law College, and at the same time, worked as a law clerk at Dhaka High Court. On February 22, 1952, Shafiur was cycling to his workplace from home. At that time, people were out on the streets, protesting against the previous day’s killings. It is believed that Shafiur left his cycle on the road and joined the protest. When Pakistani police opened fire, Shafiur was killed along with another student. He was only 34 at that time,” said Chakraborty. “According to records, 20 people had laid their lives in the Language Movement at that time, and Shafiur Rahman was one of them,” added Chakraborty.
Shafiur’s name instantly made it to the martyr’s list in Bangladesh. Students made a temporary martyrs’ monument commemorating the dead on February 24, near Dhaka Medical College. Mahbab-ur-Rahman was invited to inaugurate the monument. The ruling Pakistani government, at that time, had, however, destroyed this monument a few days later.
Shafiur Rahman’s birthplace was unknown till 15 years back when a local journalist in Konnagar, wrote about him in a newspaper. “After going through local records and names of ex-students of Konnagar High School, we found the name of Shafiur Rahman and details about him,” said Chakraborty.
Although Bhasa Divas was observed at various places in Konnagar earlier, now with a martyr being born here, the commemoration takes on a special significance. A memorial meeting is held every year at Konnagar Public Library but since last year Konnagar Municipality has been observing Bhasa Divas in memory of Shafiur Rahman.
Mohammad Rafique, a local resident, took a lot of initiative to highlight Shafiur Rahman’s association with Konnagar. “Although the family had moved to Dhaka, they left behind property that was later divided among relatives and descendants. The family members do not acknowledge their relation with Mahbab-ur-Rahman or his family,” said Rafique. The first meeting was held on February 21, 2013, but at that time, the relatives had resisted the move.
“They would not even let us make a monument near the house,” said Rafique.
In 2014, the Konnagar Municipality took initiative and made a martyr’s monument near the Konnagar High School. At this year’s programme, held at the town hall of Konnagar Municipality, chairman Bappaditya Chatterjee, said, “All this time, we did not have any photograph of Shafiur Rahman. Now we will try to get a statue made of the martyr and place it near the monument.”
Dalia Mukherjee
