Bot at 10:34, 8 August 2022

2022-08-08T10:34:45Z

New page

{{Short description|Museum in Dhaka, Bangladesh}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2021}}

{{Infobox museum
| name = Liberation War Museum
| native_name = মুক্তিযুদ্ধ জাদুঘর <br />''Muktijuddho Jadughôr''
| native_name_lang =
| logo = Liberation War Museum Logo.png
| logo_upright =
| logo_alt =
| logo_caption =
| image = Liberation War Museum - মুক্তিযুদ্ধ জাদুঘর.jpg
| image_upright =
| alt =
| caption = Liberation War Museum - মুক্তিযুদ্ধ জাদুঘর
| map_type =
| map_relief =
| map_size =
| map_caption =
| coordinates = 
| former_name =
| established = {{Start date|1996|03|22|df=y}}
| dissolved = 
| location = F11/A & F11/B, Sher-e Bangla Nagar Civic Centre, [[Agargaon]], [[Dhaka]]
| type =
| accreditation =
| key_holdings =
| collections =
| collection_size = 21,000 artifacts
| visitors =
| founder =
| executive_director =
| leader_type =
| leader =
| director =
| president =
| ceo =
| chairperson =
| curator =
| architect =
| historian =
| owner =
| publictransit =
| car_park =
| parking =
| network =
| website = {{URL|liberationwarmuseumbd.org}}
| embedded =
}}

The '''Liberation War Museum''' ({{lang-bn|মুক্তিযুদ্ধ জাদুঘর}} ''Muktijuddho Jadughôr'') is a museum at [[Agargaon]] in [[Dhaka]],<ref name="Banglapedia"/> the capital of Bangladesh, which commemorates the [[Bangladesh Liberation War]] that led to the independence of Bangladesh from [[Pakistan]].

==History==
The Liberation War Museum began under the initiative of an eight-person board of trustees as a means of preserving the memory of the 1971 [[Bangladesh Liberation War|Liberation War]]. The trustees sought donations from the general public to fund the museum and for the general public to come forward with artifacts to be displayed artifacts from the war, including personal belongings, weapons and human remains, as well as creating an archive of documents and personal histories related to the war. Over the years the museum collected more than 21,000 artifacts (as of 2016), with some as exhibits on display in the museum and many more stored in its archives. The museum describes itself as "the outcome of a citizens' effort"<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.liberationwarmuseumbd.org:80/about-us/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180314230738/http://www.liberationwarmuseumbd.org/about-us/|url-status=dead|archive-date=14 March 2018|title=About Us – Liberation War Museum|date=2018-03-14|access-date=2018-12-26}}</ref> due to the crowd-funded nature of the museum (which is independent of the Govt. of Bangladesh) and the collective contribution of the general public to the museum's collection.

=== Relocation ===
Due to a lack of space it was only possible to display a fraction of the collected artifacts at the original premises, so it was decided that a bigger, more modern premises was required. In 2009, an architectural contest was held for the new design of the museum, with architects Tanzim Hasan Salim and Naheed Farzana winning the first prize for their designs. In 2013 land was acquired in Agargaon for the new building and construction began. The new premises of the Liberation War Museum were officially opened on 16 April 2017.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.thedailystar.net/lifestyle/cover-story/re-visiting-the-liberation-war-museum-1448839|title=Re-visiting the Liberation War Museum|date=2017-08-15|website=The Daily Star|language=en|access-date=2018-12-26}}</ref> The new building provided much more space with 3500 square meters of gallery space.

== Galleries ==
[[File:03012009 Jolladkhana71 WarMuseumMirpur photo41 RanadipamBasu.jpg|thumb|The Jallad Khana memorial at one of the killing fields in [[Mirpur Model Thana|Mirpur]] is maintained by the museum.]]
[[File:Human Remains and War Materiel from 1971 Genocide - Liberation War Museum - Dhaka - Bangladesh (12826731774).jpg|thumb|Exhibition from the old premises of the LWM containing human remains and war materials.]]
[[File:Firoz Mahmud Sucker Aichi Triennale 13.JPG|thumb|The 'Sucker'wfp21' art project of artist [[Firoz Mahmud]] was partially collaborated by Liberation War Museum & EMK center [[Bangladesh–United States relations]]. Exhibited at [[Aichi Arts Center]],Nagoya, Japan & EMK center, Dhaka]]
[[File:Liberation War Museum photo 1.jpg|thumb|2-D and 3-D pictorial presentation on Language Movement in 1952.]]
[[File:Liberation War Museum photo 2.jpg|thumb|Real life demonstration of refugee camps in India]]
''Note:'' These paragraphs relate specifically to the galleries of the older (pre-2017) premises.

The galleries begin with coverage of the early history of Bangladesh and the [[Indian independence movement]] against [[British Raj]] in [[Bengal]]. A major section records the events of the [[Bengali language movement|Language Movement]] for the recognition of the [[Bengali language]] in Pakistan, which is regarded as the beginning of the movement for Bangladesh's independence. Several galleries highlight the building sectional conflict between [[West Pakistan]] and Bangladesh (then [[East Pakistan]]), the rise of Bengali nationalist leader [[Sheikh Mujibur Rahman]] and the events of 1971, when the postponement by Pakistan's military ruler Gen. [[Yahya Khan]] of the convening of the [[National Assembly of Pakistan]], in which Sheikh Mujib's [[Awami League]] had won a majority, led to the call for the independence of Bangladesh.

The coverage of the liberation war includes the training and operations of the [[Mukti Bahini]], the guerrilla army built by the Awami League to resist Pakistani forces. Several galleries focus on the [[1971 Bangladesh atrocities|genocide]] carried out by the Pakistani army against the Bengali population, with [[Operation Searchlight]] targeting Bengali intellectuals, students, [[Hindu]]s and Awami League leaders, and the humanitarian crisis created with the pouring of an estimated ten million refugees into neighbouring [[India]].<ref name="Banglapedia">{{cite encyclopedia | title = Liberation War Museum| encyclopedia =Banglapedia | publisher =Asiatic Society of Bangladesh | year =2007 |url=http://en.banglapedia.org/index.php?title=Liberation_War_Museum| access-date =2015-08-06}}</ref>

The coverage of the war continues to India's support for the Mukti Bahini and its subsequent direct intervention with the outbreak of the [[Indo-Pakistani War of 1971]], which led to the surrender of all Pakistani forces in Bangladesh on 16 December 1971.

The galleries display the weapons used by the Mukti Bahini, personal effects of many Mukti Bahini fighters and civilian victims of the atrocities committed by Pakistani forces, many donated by their families after the conflict. Also displayed are remains of human skulls and bones retrieved from [[mass grave]]s of civilians killed by Pakistani forces.

== Activities ==
The museum is involved in a number of outreach and reachout programs.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.liberationwarmuseumbd.org:80/projects-and-programs|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180202105425/http://www.liberationwarmuseumbd.org/projects-and-programs|url-status=dead|archive-date=2 February 2018|title=Projects and Programs – Liberation War Museum|date=2018-02-02|access-date=2018-12-26}}</ref> These includes programs working with schools to educate the youth about the Liberation War as well as regular conferences and seminars within the museum premises.
The museum also supported for varied art and cultural events. Commissioned artworks and collaborated artist art projects.
Under the patronage of the museum, it had several art exhibitions including a Photographic exhibition on the "Liberation War : Towards 25th Anniversary" held at ‘ La Galerie' in Dhaka[March, 1995], published a Photographic album containing 100 historic photographs portraying the Liberation struggle of Bangali people from the beginning (British Period) ending with the establishment of Bangladesh. The format of this album was such that it could be mounted anywhere for an exhibition [December, 1994], commissioned and collaborated (along with EMK center Dhaka) the war related art project of artist [[Firoz Mahmud]]'s ''Sucker wfp21'' project [March, 2016] among many others.

== International links ==
In 2006 the museum was fitted with modern audiovisual and exhibition equipment as a donation from the Japanese government to help preserve the culture and heritage of Bangladesh's independence movement.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.bd.emb-japan.go.jp/en/eBulletin/47e-bulletin300306.html|title=Japan's Support to Liberation War Museum|date=March 2006|publisher=The Japanese Embassy to Bangladesh|access-date=2017-06-30}}</ref> The museum is an institutional member of the [[American Alliance of Museums]].<ref name="LWM">{{cite web|url=http://www.liberationwarmuseumbd.org/executive-summary/|title=Liberation War Museum:Executive Summary|year=2004|publisher=The Liberation War Museum, Dhaka|access-date=2017-01-06}}</ref> It is also a founder member of the International Coalition of Historic Site Museums of Conscience.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.liberationwarmuseum.org/ |title=Home |website=liberationwarmuseum.org}}</ref>

== Board of Trustees ==
The eight person board of trustees of the museum include: [[Aly Zaker]], [[Asaduzzaman Noor]], [[Sara Zaker]], [[Dr. Sarwar Ali]], [[Mofidul Hoque]], [[Ziauddin Tariq Ali]], [[Rabiul Hussain]] and [[H. Akku Chowdhury]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.liberationwarmuseumbd.org:80/board-of-trustee/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180314230756/http://www.liberationwarmuseumbd.org/board-of-trustee/|url-status=dead|archive-date=14 March 2018|title=Board of Trustees – Liberation War Museum|date=2018-03-14|access-date=2018-12-26}}</ref>

== See also ==
* [[Muktijuddho e-Archive]], a Digital Library, working to 'preserve and publicly distribute' the historical documents regarding the Liberation War of Bangladesh and Genocide of Innocent Bengali People in 1971.

== References ==
{{reflist}}

{{Coord|23.731862|N|90.406800|E|display=title}}
{{Museums in Bangladesh}}
{{Museums in Dhaka}}
{{Bangladesh Liberation War}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:History museums in Bangladesh]]
[[Category:Museums in Dhaka]]
[[Category:Aftermath of the Bangladesh Liberation War]]

Liberation War Museum - Revision history

Bot at 10:34, 8 August 2022