Amanullah Asaduzzaman

Amanullah Asaduzzaman

Amanullah Mohammad Asaduzzaman (June 10, 1942 - January 20, 1989) was a martyred student leader who was killed by police on January 20, 1989 while marching for the overthrow of Ayub Khan. He is better known as Shaheed Asad. Martyr Asad was one of the three martyrs of the then East Pakistan who pioneered the mass movement of 1969. The other two are Shahid Rustam and Shahid Matiur. He received the Independence Medal in 2016 for his special contribution to the war of independence and liberation.

Early life

Shahid Asad was born on 10 June 1942 in Dhanua village of Shibpur upazila of Narsingdi district. His elder brother's name is Engineer Rashiduzzaman. He graduated from Shibpur High School in 1960 and studied at Jagannath College (now Jagannath University) and MC College. He was admitted to Dhaka University in 1973 in the undergraduate (honors) class and obtained his BA degree in 1978 and MA degree in 1986. In the same year, Asad became involved in Shibpur, Manohardi, Raipura and Narsingdi areas with the aim of organizing the Krishak Samiti under the direction of Maulana Abdul Hamid Khan Bahasani, President of the National Awami Party (NAP) and Krishak Samiti.

At City Law College, Dhaka, he was trying to get his MA or post-graduate degree for the second time in 1986 for better results. At the time of his death in 1989, he was a final year MA student in the history department of Dhaka University. Shahid Asad was the President of the East Pakistan Students Union of the then Dhaka Hall (now Shahidullah Hall) Branch and the General Secretary of the East Pakistan Students Union (Ipsu-Menon Group), Dhaka Branch. Dedicated to political activities, Asaduzzaman was always aware of the right to education of poor and helpless students. He established a night school called Shibpur Naish Vidyalaya and with the aim of establishing Shibpur College he raised financial funds with the help of local educationists.

File:Wounded Asaduzzaman.jpg

Wounded Asaduzzaman

January 20, 1989

Mounting

In support of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman's 6-point demand and in the movement to demand the release of other accused in the Agartala conspiracy case, Asad's death further clouded the atmosphere and turned it into an important event. On December 6, 1986, Maulana Abdul Hamid Khan Bahasani called for a strike and the traders fully supported it. In this context, as a result of the siege of the Governor's House, the student organizations had already prepared for a new movement.

On January 4, 1969, the leaders of the student organization expressed solidarity with the 11-point demand of the students and the 6-point demand of Bangabandhu, with Shaheed Asad playing a major role. At a meeting held at Dhaka University on January 16, 1989, the students called for the closure of all educational institutions across the country. As a result, as governor, Monem Khan enacted Section 144 so that no more than four people could gather.

Procession and death

As per the previous plan, Asaduzzaman was marching with the students on the afternoon of January 20, 1969 in the pool area of ​​Chan Khan next to Dhaka Medical College. Police tied them to Chan Khan's bridge and told them to leave. But the protesting students stayed there for about an hour and Assad and his allies started chanting slogans against the dictatorial government. In that situation, a police officer fired at Assad from close range. Assad was rushed to a hospital in critical condition and was pronounced dead at the scene.

After death

Assad's blood-stained shirt by students

Thousands of students rallied around Assad's death, marching again and gathering at the center of the Shaheed Minar. The Central Resistance Committee called a nationwide strike on January 22, 23 and 24 to pay tribute to him. Police fired again on the last day of the strike. As a result of Assad's death, Field Marshal Ayub Khan's government was forced to suspend Section 144 law enforcement for two months.

In popular culture

• The modern poet of Bengali literature Shamsur Rahman wrote his immortal poem "Asad's shirt" after seeing the blood stained shirt of Shaheed Asad in the procession of countless students and people full of grief and emotion.
• Also, Helal Hafeez, one of the poets of Bangladesh, was outraged by the incident and wrote the time-honored poem "Forbidden Editorial".

Mass uprising 1969 Daily Azad

Paintings by Rashid Talukdar

As an eyewitness to Assad's death in the student movement, Rashid Talukder, one of Bangladesh's most popular photographers, captured Asad's shirt with a long procession of students as a still image on his camera.

Call for strike

As per the decision dated January 15, 1970, January 20: The East Bengal Revolutionary Students Union called a full-day hartal on the day to mark Shaheed Asad Day.

Shirt transfer

On January 23, 2010, the Bangladesh Liberation War Museum will hand over the shirts of Shaheed HM Moniruzzaman Asad, the brother of Shaheed Asad, at a ceremony in memory of Shaheed Asad, Shaheed Rustam and Shaheed Matiur during the mass uprising of 1971. Besides, his comrades-in-arms Abdul Khaleq and Abdul Ahad have donated blood-stained shirts of Shahid Rustam, son of Kalu Mia Sheikh of Begumganj, Noakhali, to the museum.

File:Asad's Shirt.jpg

Asad's Shirt

Memorabilia

• In many parts of Bangladesh, people changed the nameplate of Ayub Khan to Shaheed Asad, especially the Asad Gate instead of the Ayub Gate on the right side of the Jatiya Sangsad Bhaban. Also, Ayub Avenue was renamed Asad Avenue and Ayub Park was renamed Asad Park.

• In 1980, on the day of the 1st Martyr Asad, the people erected a plaque at the main entrance of the Dhaka Medical College Hospital entitled "Memorial to the Mass Uprising of 1969 and Immortal Asad" where Assad was killed.
• The locals of Shibpur and Dhanua area established a college called Shibpur Shaheed Asad College in 1980 and in 1991 the locals established Shaheed Asad Collegiate Girls School and College in Asad's own village Dhanua.
• Every year on January 20, the Bengali nation celebrates Shaheed Asad Day with great reverence for his great sacrifice and contribution to the cause of liberation and independence in the service of the motherland.

People's Awakening

The sculpture built in memory of Assad is Ganajagaran. In 1992, on the initiative of Dhaka University Central Student Parliament or Daksu, north of the gate of the emergency department of Dhaka Medical College, a monument was erected under the name of Ganajagaran to immortalize Asad's memory and to keep alive the spirit of mass uprising. The sculpture was created by artist Pradyot Das.

The sculpture was inaugurated on 24 January 1992 in the presence of the then Vice-Chancellor of Dhaka University, Professor Mohammad Moniruzzaman Mia and the then President of the Asad Smriti Parishad, Professor Sakhawat Ali, Engineer Rashiduzzaman, the elder brother of Shaheed Asad. Within a few years of construction, the sculpture was torn down by local Tokai and miscreants due to the negligence of the authorities. Then at some point it disappeared from there.

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