Liberation War Museum (মুক্তিযুদ্ধ জাদুঘর)

The Liberation War Museum (Muktijuddho Jadughar) in Agargaon, Dhaka, tells the story of the 1971 war that made Bangladesh independent from Pakistan. Founded by private citizens on 22 March 1996 and housed since 2017 in a purpose-built building in the Sher-e-Bangla Nagar civic centre, it suits anyone who wants to understand how modern Bangladesh began.

Eight trustees and objects donated by the public

Eight trustees founded the museum: Aly Zaker, Asaduzzaman Noor, Sara Zaker, Sarwar Ali, Mofidul Hoque, Ziauddin Tariq Ali, Rabiul Hussain and Akku Chowdhury. They asked the public for money and for objects from the war, including personal belongings, weapons and human remains, and built an archive of documents and personal accounts. The museum calls itself the outcome of a citizens' effort, funded by the public and independent of the government. By 2016 it held more than 21,000 items, many kept in the archives. In 2006 the Japanese government funded audiovisual and exhibition equipment.

Agargaon building opened in April 2017

The new museum at plots F11/A and F11/B opened on 16 April 2017 with about 3,500 square metres of gallery space. Its design came from a 2009 architectural competition won by Tanzim Hasan Salim and Naheed Farzana. Land was acquired in 2013, when construction began. The original premises had room for only a fraction of the collection.

From early Bengal to the events of 1971

The galleries move from the early history of Bengal and the struggle against British rule to the Language Movement of 1952, seen as the start of the independence movement, then to the political crisis of the late 1960s and the events of 1971. Themes include the Mukti Bahini freedom fighters, the genocide, the Indo-Pakistani War and the refugee camps in India. Letters, clothing and weapons give the history a human scale, and remains from mass graves make parts of the visit hard going.

Outside the building the museum runs school programmes, seminars and research, supports art projects, and maintains the Jalladkhana memorial at a killing field in Mirpur. It is an institutional member of the American Alliance of Museums and a founder member of the International Coalition of Sites of Conscience.