The ‘Mir Musharraf Hossain Memorial Center’ established in Padmidi village of Nawabpur Union of Baliakandi, Rajbari, the burial place of Mir Musharraf Hossain, the author of Bishad Sindhu, the pioneer of Bengali literature, is plagued with many problems. As the evening approaches, a ghostly atmosphere descends on the memorial.
Every safety light in the memorial is useless. There has been no reform for 10 years. As a result, the institution is fading and losing its beauty. There is no daily newspaper for the reader even though it was kept earlier. The post of Assistant Director of the Memorial Center has been vacant for about 10 months. Due to lack of renovation, the benches for visitors are falling apart.
It is known that the Mir Musharraf Hossain Memorial Center was established in 2001 on 1 acre 84 percent land in Padmadi, Baliakandi, to protect the memory of Mir Musharraf Hossain. The foundation stone of which was laid by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. It is implemented by the Bangla Academy and sponsored by the Ministry of Cultural Affairs.
The memorial center has 15 rooms including mausoleum, library, reading room, museum, meeting room, sculptures. The mausoleum contains the graves of Mir Musharraf Hossain, his two wives Bibi Kulsum and Bibi Khodeja and brother Mir Mokarram Hossain. The library has about 3500 books for the visiting visitors and readers. There is a book sale center of Bangla Academy.
The center is open for visitors on 6 days of the week except Thursday. Open for readers and visitors from 9 am to 5 pm. But, the memorial has lost its beauty due to no renovation work since its inception.
It can be seen on the surface, limestone is falling from between the walls and some parts of the roof of the main building along with the boundary wall of the center. The boundary walls are blackened with moss. There are 6 benches for visitors but they are falling apart. Only one of the 24 safety lamps is good. The remaining 23 lamps are broken. As a result, in the evening, darkness descends on the entire memorial center. There are supposed to be two lamps on either side of the main entrance to the memorial, but there is one.
Several visitors who visited the memorial said that the environment inside the memorial is very beautiful. However, after evening there is no security light, so the whole area seems like a ghostly atmosphere to them. He also said that he did not like the fact that various parts of the walls of this important center were falling. He demanded its reformation.
Upazila Nirbahi Officer Rafiqul Islas said that it is important to keep all the lights on. The infrastructure built by the government needs to be properly maintained. The government has spent a lot of money here. It is necessary to ensure that the purpose for which it is constructed is not disturbed.
Upazila Parishad Chairman Bir Muktijoddha Md. Abul Kalam Azad said that after its establishment, they did not see any reform work. Seeing the poor condition of the boundary wall of the memorial, in 2013, they painted the wall with the money of the council. He also said that the center lacks care.
Director of Bangla Academy (Administration, Human Resources and Planning Department) Dr. KM Mujahidul Islam said that they have big plans for the Mir Musharraf Hossain memorial. They have already undertaken a project. It will be implemented very soon. He also claims that they have arranged it nicely even though it is on a small scale.
