Today, the legacies of Language Movement martyrs Abdul Jabbar, Abdus Salam, and Shafiur Rahman lie in neglect. This first part of the two-part series looks at the state of their museums, memorials, homes, and families, raising the question whether these heroes are receiving the recognition they deserve.
More than seven decades after the Language Movement of 1952, the memories of several state‑recognised martyrs remain poorly preserved.
Abdul Jabbar’s family continues to call for a museum in Shimulkuchi, where they still live, as the existing facility in Panchua holds no personal belongings and draws little public interest.
In Feni’s Salamnagar, Abdus Salam’s memorial library stands largely empty, with his blood‑stained shirt and photographs long stolen, leaving only a hand‑drawn portrait to represent his sacrifice.
And in Dhaka, Shafiur Rahman remains the most overlooked of all -- with no museum or facility in his name, only a road recently approved in his honour and a few photographs preserved at Bangla Academy.
Together, their stories reveal a pattern of neglect: libraries without artefacts, memorials in disrepair, families struggling with hardship, and promises of recognition left unfulfilled.
CALL FOR MUSEUM IN SHIMULKUCHI
Language Movement martyr Abdul Jabbar was born in Panchua village of Gafargaon upazila, Mymensingh. While serving in the Ansar force in the early 1950s, he relocated most of his family to Shimulkuchi village in Haluaghat upazila. After his death in 1952, the remaining family settled permanently in Shimulkuchi, leaving little connection with Panchua.
In 2008, the district council built the Abdul Jabbar Library and Memorial Museum in Panchua, despite the family’s preference for Shimulkuchi. The museum contains no personal belongings of Jabbar, and visitors often leave disappointed. The library holds about 4,000 books, and Martyrs’ Day programmes are organised annually on its grounds.
“Visitors mainly want to see Shaheed Jabbar’s personal belongings, but we have none to display,” Librarian Md Kaisaruzzaman told this correspondent.
Meanwhile, in Shimulkuchi, where Jabbar’s family resides, there is no proper road connecting his house to the main thoroughfare. The one‑kilometre stretch is partly earthen and partly broken, forcing visitors to cut through a paddy field on foot.
Language martyr Abdus Salam library and memorial museum in Feni’s Daganbhuiya upazila.
In front of the house, a Shaheed Minar built three decades ago by Jabbar’s son, freedom fighter Nurul Islam Badal, stands neglected. Renovated in 2010 with district council funding, it has since fallen into disrepair.
Speaking to this correspondent, Jabbar’s granddaughter, Afroza Khanam, lamented the lack of basic facilities like a proper road to their house and spoke of the financial hardship currently afflicting the family.
In 2007, Jabbar’s nephew Atik Ullah donated one acre of land for the Language Martyr Abdul Jabbar Foundation, registered in 2010.
Initially operating from a tin-roofed room, the structure later collapsed in a storm, leaving only a signboard on the property.
Atik told this correspondent that the family was still in possession of Jabbar’s personal belongings, and they could arrange for the memorabilia to be displayed if a museum were built in Shimulkuchi.
Speaking to The Daily Star, Mymensingh District Council CEO Shah Md Kamrul Huda said, “The council does not have the authority to independently take up a project to build a museum to preserve the memories of Shaheed Jabbar in Haluaghat, but a government directive can make it possible.”
On the road issue, he said, “If his family formally submits an application, the district council can take steps. Considering historical significance and local hardship, the road should be built.”
About an earlier proposal to rename Panchua to Jabbar Nagar, the official said, “There was a government pledge to rename Panchua as Jabbar Nagar, but it did not materialise. To revive the initiative, we would now require a formal application from residents. Once submitted, the process can move forward.”
REMEMBERED ONLY IN FEBRUARY
Language Movement martyr Abdus Salam’s family home is in Laxmanpur village of Daganbhuiya upazila, Feni. In 2008, the village was renamed Salamnagar, and a library and memorial museum were built there in his memory. Despite the name, the museum holds no personal artefacts previously belonging to Salam.
In the 1960s, then‑MP Khaja Ahmad took Salam’s blood‑stained shirt and photographs from his father, promising to donate them to the museum. The items were later stolen along with other memorabilia. Today, only a widely circulated hand‑drawn portrait remains.
Locals say the library remains largely unused except on February 21, when the upazila administration organises cultural programmes on its grounds. The library currently holds about 2,500 books. During the 2024 floods, several shelves and books were damaged.
Librarian Lutfur Rahman told The Daily Star, “Some books were ruined by the flood, while others were salvaged and are now readable. Visitors mainly come to see Salam’s personal belongings, but since we have none, they leave disappointed.”
Adjacent to the library is the Language Martyr Salam Government Primary School, established in 1995 and nationalised in 2013.
The dilapidated shaheed minar built in memory of Abdul Jabbar in Shimulkuchi village in Mymensingh’s Haluaghat upazila. There is no road leading to the shaheed minar and his family home.
Headteacher Akhhi Rani Das said the library lacks a children’s corner.
“If a children’s corner were available, students could learn about the Language Movement and history. We often discuss events of 1952 in class, and such a space would help children develop reading habits from an early age,” she told this correspondent.
Among Salam’s siblings, only his younger brother Abdul Karim is still alive, though old age has left him unable to recognise anyone.
His nephew, Md Mamun, said, “No one checks on us except in February. Though neglected all year, our importance is suddenly remembered then.”
A FORGOTTEN HERO
Shafiur Rahman is one of the most neglected among state‑recognised language martyrs. Unlike others, no memorial museum or facility exists in his name, and no public structure has been dedicated to him.
In 2023, Dhaka South City Corporation named the road from Doyel Chattar to Shikkha Bhaban after him. A few of his photographs are preserved at the Language Movement Museum of Bangla Academy.
Born in West Bengal, Shafiur moved to erstwhile East Pakistan with his family following the partition in 1948. In February 1952, he was working as a clerk in the Accounts Section of the Dhaka High Court.
Among his family, only his daughter Shahanaz survives. She lives in the capital’s Uttara. Her brother and Shafiur’s only son, Shafiqul Islam, passed away in 2013.
“We donated all of my father’s memorabilia and personal belongings to the Language Movement Museum. As a martyr’s family, we currently receive a monthly allowance of Tk 10,000, which had been suspended for five years and was reinstated only last year,” Shahanaz told The Daily Star.
She added, “We repeatedly approached government offices to establish a museum or facility in his name. My brother tried many times while he was alive, but nothing happened. Now I am old and have given up those hopes. Yet if the government wished, something could have been done.”
