Moinul Abedin Khan Suman, Barguna Representative:
The August 5, 2024 attack, Barguna's only liberation war museum is abandoned after the vandalism. The museum was inaugurated at the District Shilpakala Academy on November 30, 2019 with the aim of preserving the memory of the Liberation War and spreading the history of the Liberation War to the new generation. Earlier it was used as the Liberation War Gallery.
Chittaranjan Sheel, a veteran journalist and cultural activist of Barguna, said that in order to spread the ideals of the liberation war to the new generation, several light images were collected and displayed in various events based on history. Gradually, it was included in the national program organized by the district administration in a room on the ground floor of the Barguna District Shilpakala Academy Auditorium.
On November 30, 2019, the then Deputy Commissioner of Barguna Md. Mostain Billah later converted it into a Liberation War Museum. Since then, students and visitors have visited the museum on various national days.
In this museum, more than 300 light paintings based on liberation war and history, various books based on liberation war and locally published, wooden guns (broken), clothes, cooking pots, ramadas, bhojali used by freedom fighters were preserved.
Besides, with the aim of turning the museum into an archaeological museum, the historic Shahi Mosque of the Mughal period established in Barguna and the historical Majid Bariya Mosque of Mirzaganj Upazila of Patuakhali district was preserved and the lost materials used by people were preserved in the old days.
But after the July 2024 movement, the protests have also been attacked and vandalized by the liberation war museum along with other structures on August 5, which is why the empty room is now locked, and there is no comment from the district administration whether it will be rebuilt.
Chittaranjan Sheel, one of the founders of the museum, said that the museum was not built for any political purpose, the history, tradition and archaeological monuments of our liberation war were started with the new generation, hopefully the current government will continue that continuity.
In this regard, Barguna District Freedom Fighters Sangsad convener Md Yusup Mridha said, "The Liberation War Museum is very important to our new generation, from here we have the opportunity to know the exact history of the Liberation War, so we will request the district administration to re-establish the museum."
However, when Barguna District Commissioner Tashlima Akhter was contacted on the phone to speak in this regard, she did not receive it, but later sent a text message on WhatsApp but did not comment.
