Bundles of rods, rubbles and other construction materials litter the premises of Central Shaheed Minar of Barisal, the cultural hub of the city dwellers, even on Victory Day today. Photo: Star

Kazi Azizul Islam, then additional deputy commissioner of Barisal, was one of the first government officials to renounce his position and join the cause of Bangladesh's independence.

Forty-three years later, his martyrdom is memorialised. A triangular concrete structure with his mural and two plaques containing his brief life sketch and an epitaph will be inaugurated today, at his grave near Trish Gudam, a warehouse, in Barisal city.

At the initiative of Deputy Commissioner of Barisal Shohidul Alam, the memorial was built for Tk 6 lakh.

Azizul joined the southern secretariat of Bangladesh government on March 27, 1971, which was set up the day before in the city by the local Liberation War organisers to operate all administrative works of the region.

He also supervised food supplies to freedom fighters and firearm training to young combatants at BIWTA office compound. In the aftermath of the November 12 cyclone of 1970, Azizul was sent to Bhola during the war to oversee relief works there.

The memorial for Kazi Azizul Islam, the then additional deputy commissioner of Barisal, who defected from the Pakistani government and joined the Liberation War on March 27, 1971, will be inaugurated today, at his grave near Trish Gudam in Barisal city. Photo: Star

On May 5, 1971, when he came to Barisal city to evacuate his family, he was captured by a Pakistani major before being tortured and shot dead the same day.

Shaheed Azizul was posthumously awarded Swadhinata Puroskar 2014.

SHAHEED MINAR LITTERED

The people of Barisal city will observe Victory Day today on the premises of Central Shaheed Minar, their main cultural hub, now littered with construction materials of the four-storey Bangabandhu auditorium building.

The piles of rods, rubbles leave a small space for organising cultural programmes.

Cultural activists said they requested the contractor, Momen Khan, a week ago to shift the materials elsewhere for the time being. Momen, however, said there was no place to relocate.