The new Liberation War Museum, Dhaka 2018

The new Liberation War Museum now has 3,500 square meters of gallery space, spacious reception rooms and state-of-the-art technology. The architects of the modern building, which opened on 16 April 2017, are Tanzim Hasan Salim and Naheed Farzana. In its outward appearance, the museum resembles a huge concrete warship whose masts are visible from afar. Upon entering, the first thing that strikes you is the eternal flame. Draped inside a small pool of water, it is a symbol of remembrance and pause.

Gallery 1 tells the story of Bengal. From Buddhist and Hindu civilizations, about the rule of the Mughals to the withdrawal of the East India Company and the birth of the independence movement. Gallery 2 illustrates the events that led to the 1971 Liberation War. Galleries 3 and 4 present devotional items from the war of liberation. Everyday objects, war equipment up to tickets and originals of the ‘Concert for Bangladesh’. In addition, galleries and video screens visualize the plight of the people, the fear of the refugees and the horrors of war.
Operation Searchlight – one of the darkest hours in East Pakistan’s history, is presented in a tunnel-like section. The immense suffering the women had to experience during the war is conveyed in a moving manner.