Museum of Independence

Mymensingh Museum (ময়মনসিংহ জাদুঘর), formerly known as Momenshahi Museum (মোমেনশাহী জাদুঘর) is located at the bagan bari (garden house) of Zamindar Madan Babu at 17 Amrita (অমৃত) Babu Road, Mymensingh, Bangladesh. The museum, which began as an important regional institution for preservation of locally collected historical evidence, lacks proper preservation. Its objective is to preserve the rare and unique relics of local architecture, sculpture, metal works,utensils, handwritten scripts on paper and leaf, and commercial products. Collected from the palaces of Mymensingh District Zamindars, the museum's initial collection included 214 articles. They are housed in three rooms within the museum.

The museum was established in 1969 at the initiative of the-then Deputy Commissioner of Mymensingh. Initially run by the Mymensingh Municipality. The Department of Archaeology, Cultural Affairs Ministry took charge of the museum in 1989. By 1995, it was enlisted in the gazette. The collection includes manuscripts and coins, though many are not on display due to insufficient showcase space. A peacock mummy comes from Mymensingh Medical College. Bamboo and cane items, preserved birds, photographs and pottery were damaged during a renovation in 1999–2001.

Several articles were collected from Zamindar palaces. The Muktagacha zamindar palace contribution includes a stone flower vase, a compass, antique clocks, Bakharee (an ornament), pottery, weaving machines, ornamental flower tub stands, candle stands, iron shelves and sports items. Statuary and sculptures include those of Saraswati, Vishnu, and a dragon.

Natural history items include a tiger head, two deer heads, and the head of a wild bull. Elephant heads, a sofa set, Italian statues, and a huge shade used during hunting come from the Gouripur(গৌরীপুর) zamindar palace. A rhinoceros hide and a table with a marble stone top were acquired from the Atharabari (আঠারোবাড়ি) zamindar palace .The museum contains many paintings of rural Bengal.

The Panchagarh Rocks Museum is the first rocks museum of Bangladesh. It is located in Panchagarh Govt. Prof. Nazmul Haque, principal of Panchagarh Govt. Mohila College, established the rocks museum on March 1, 1997. The Rocks museum is separate into two galleries, external and internal. In the external gallery there has a vast number of rocks; and in the internal gallery, there are small stones of different ages.

Collection of Rocks: Petrified Wood and Fossilized Rocks, Granite, Quartzite Shell, Lime Stone, Sits, Hard Rock, Basalt, Silica, Nice, Clay-Rock etc. have been keep in the Rocks museum for display. These are almost 60 pieces of rocks from different age sized by 3-4 inches to 10 feet.

In the museum there are some other important collections. Two antiquarian boats which built with only one truck of tree and about 500 to 1000 years ago and Multicolored sand and earth, petrified 'shall wood' and net, very old pictured bamboo fearing, different type antics, very old writings.

Mahatma Karamchand Gandhi, the father of India, was the pioneer of the liberation movement of India from the British Empire. He visited Noakhali in 1946 and the place he lived is now turned into a memorial complex situated 25 kilometers away from the Noakhali District.

The very brief history of India: In 1946, just before the liberation of Pakistan from India, there were some social anarchy began in the undivided India. At that time, he decided to visit different places where the massacre started. According to his plan, he visited Noakhali and gave a peace speech. Gandhi was interested to set up a technical training institute at "Joyag" area for the rural uneducated people because he believed that only education can change the mind of a man and keep themselves away from being involved in crimes like killing/looting etc. At that time, a local lawyer, named Hemanta Kumar invited him to stay at his home. Hemanta was believed as the first barrister in this region on that time. He donated his land and building to Gandhiji and Gandhiji was pleased to him too. Gandhi used to drink only goat milk and he always carried a goat with his team. One night, the goat of Gandhi was stolen from the complex. After that he returned to Bihar (India) but willing to come again to continue the activities of the vocational training center. After that, Pakistan got independence from India. In 1948, Mahatma Gandhi was assassinated by fire and never managed to came back to Noakhali before his death. That was his only visit. In 1971, the east part of Pakistan declared themselves independent and named Bangladesh. Noakhali belongs to Bangladesh now. The Institute is now running autonomously in collaboration with the Bangladesh government.

Current Condition of Gandhi Ashram Trust: After his death, the Pakistani government tried to destroy his memories and work. The Pakistanis always hated Gandhi and all the Hindu people. During the period of 1947-1971, Pakistani people and their supporters forced Hindus to settle in India and destroyed their properties. After 1971, the Independent country Bangladesh began to preserve his history. The Vocational instituted was then named "Gandhi Ashram Trust" and started to serve local rural people. But now after 2000, the training activities started to decline. People are much more interested to move towards to a city now. Now the building is converted into a museum where lots of photos of Gandhi's earlier life is found.

The Ashram Trust is located in Joyag, Sonaimuri, Noakhali district. It is actually situated at Noakhali - Ramganj (Laksmipur) highway. There are some other branches of Gandhi Ashram are established to achieve the mission of Mahatma Gandhi in many different districts of Bangladesh. But actually the historical place where Gandhi resided in Bangladesh is in Noakhali.

On 21st February, a rally of students were coming towards Dhaka Medical College during the Language Movement in 1952. The police shoot towards the rally and instantly some of the protesters of the first line were killed immediately. One of them was Shahid Abul Barkat (1927-1952). Few days after, the Central Shaheed Minar was built in here and from 2000, UNESCO declared 21 February as the Mother Language Day.

Previous History: In 1947, Pakistan got independence from India. There was two parts of Pakistan- the east and the west. Eastern Pakistan was green by the bless of river God and populated with a lot of people and on the other hand, the western Pakistan was nothing but a desert, population was also low. Demographic, social and economical lifestyle of these two parts of land were completely different, language was different too. But the capital was established in the west and the rulers ruled the entire country living in the west. From 1947, Urdu was the only state language of Pakistan whereas the students of Dhaka university always wanted to make Bengali as a secondary language. Finally in 1952, after some students were killed in the language movement, the government decided to make Bengali as a second language. Later, the eastern part of Pakistan became an independent country by the liberation war in 1971 named Bangladesh.

Early Life of Abul Barkat: Abul Barkat was a student who came to Dhaka for his higher studies. He was born at Murshidabad, West Bengal (now India). He stayed at his maternal uncle's home during his stay in Dhaka. He was a student of Masters level while he is being killed by the police open fire on 21 February, 1952 (aged 24).

The Language martyr Abul Barkat was honored with the "Ekushee Padak" (the highest non military achievement in Bangladesh) by the Governmnet of the Peoples Republic of Bangladesh in 2000. His grave is situated in Azimpur Graveyard in Dhaka.