There has been a sustained campaign to foment the emotion of the people relating to the removal of the Martyrs’ Column from the city heart Post Office Choumuhani in Agartala where the state government is being accused of ‘disrespecting’ the sentiment revolving around Bangladesh Liberation War.
With the misinformation as well as disinformation campaign, several leading Bangladeshi intellectuals today were also pooled in who made a joint statement in this regard.
Notably, even Tripura Pradesh Congress held a press conference on this issue.
But the fact – which is not being told in a conspicuous manner- that decision to shift the tank, anti-aircraft gun and the memorial column was neither taken by the state government nor the Smart City Ltd.
The removal came following the demand and later approval by the Indian army- who felt that the memorial including the guns –were not properly displayed in the congested narrow space in a befitting manner.
The army found it difficult to offer wreath and other salutations to the martyrs in conformity with their army protocol, standard, spectacle due to lack of space and proper environment. It was at the request of the Sainik Board that the guns and memorial were shifted to the newly built designated War Memorial park at Lichubagan – Ln Naik Albert Ekka War Memorial Park in Agartala.
Last year the then District Magistrate who was also CEO of the Smart City Ltd sought to dispel the wrong notion in a statement.
The statement had said : There are some misgivings about shifting of the tank captured by Indian Army from Pakistanis in 1971 from Post Office Choumuhani .The decision to shift it to Lichubagan ….Ln Nk Albert Ekka War Memorial park which is being constructed in a befitting manner was taken by Indian Army, Sainik Board and Agartala Smart City Ltd...Here below is the official statement:
“Post office Chowmuhani had a war memorial which had one tank & one artillery gun captured from East Pakistan during 1971 war. Also Army had a small war memorial at Lichubagan dedicated to martyrs of 1971 war. LNk Albert Ekka was awarded Param Veer Chakra for battle of Gangasagar which was a part of 1971 Indo-pak war. He saved Agartala from being captured by erstwhile East Pakistan. It was a long standing demand of Indian Army to make a big war memorial combining both of these war memorials.
Army and Sainik Board raised this issue in front of honble CM after new Govt came to Power in 2018. The project was taken up under Smart City Mission after open tender at a cost of Rs 4.83 Crore. The Albert Ekka War memorial is already under construction at Lichubagan.
The replica of the existing 40 feet victory pillar at Post office Chowmuhani has been constructed at Lichubagan park. The tank & the artillery gun have been shifted from Post office Chowmuhani to Alber Ekka war memorial on a newly constructed granite base.
This has been done after written permission from Sainik Board & several consultations over the last one year with Indian Army authorities.
The post office Chowmuhani with an existing diameter of 28 metres is the reason for traffic jams in the area. The Post office Chowmuhani will be reconstructed with a reduced diameter of 18 metres on the theme of Tree of Life under the same project of Smart City Mission. Also as per information obtained from Brigadier (Retd) JP Tiwari of State Sainik Board, the tank & the gun which have been shifted today have no connection with erstwhile king of Tripura. Some unscrupulous elements are spreading rumours regarding this to create a communal disharmony, said the statement.
The only aim is to fulfill the longstanding demand of the Armed Forces to create a befitting war memorial for the 1971 war & Alber Ekka, a demand which remained unfulfilled for decades. (Courtesy: Tripura Times)