Nabakumar Institution
A school and college in Bakshi Bazar, Old Dhaka, founded in 1916, whose Standard IX student Matiur Rahman Mallik was killed by police during the 1969 mass-upsurge movement — an event the campus now memorializes with a government-funded library and museum.
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- Established
- 1916
- Location
- Bakshi Bazar, Old Dhaka
- Country
- Bangladesh
- Founder
- Named for a zamindar, Nabakumarstated by the subject
- Structure
- School and college divisions on one campus, under one administration
- College branch
- Added in 1973 (now Dr. Shahidullah College)
- On campus
- Matiur Rahman Memorial Library and Matiur Rahman Memorial Museum
Overview
Nabakumar Institution is a school in Bakshi Bazar, Old Dhaka, founded in 1916 and named for a zamindar, Nabakumar (Banglapedia). It added a college branch in 1973, and school and college divisions now share one campus and administration; the college branch carries the name of the educator Dr. Muhammad Shahidullah (Banglapedia). The institution’s most independently documented moment is not routine — it is the 1969 killing of one of its own students during Bangladesh’s mass-upsurge movement against the Ayub Khan government.
The 1969 mass upsurge and Matiur Rahman Mallik
On 24 January 1969, Standard IX student Matiur Rahman Mallik was shot dead by police during a demonstration in Dhaka, one of several people killed that day (The Daily Star). Dhaka Tribune’s account of the day names him specifically as a student “of Nabakumar Institute” (Dhaka Tribune). His death is credited, alongside other student deaths that week, with helping galvanise the wider movement that contributed to the fall of the Ayub Khan government later that year. A fuller account of these events and Mallik’s own biography is given in his own profile on this site.
Recognition and memorials
Banglapedia records that the Bangladesh government granted 10 million taka in 1998 toward memorial facilities at the school, leading to the establishment of a Matiur Rahman Memorial Library and a Matiur Rahman Memorial Museum on campus (Banglapedia). Dhaka Tribune reports that the Bangladesh Awami League places wreaths annually at a memorial to Mallik at the school in Bakshibazar (Dhaka Tribune).
What this profile does not claim
This profile makes no claim about the school’s present-day academic standing, size, or facilities beyond what is stated on its own website, since no independent, present-day reporting on ordinary school operations was found. It does not assert that the memorial named in Bangladesh Awami League coverage and the memorial named in Banglapedia’s account of the 1998 government grant are necessarily the same physical structure.
Timeline
- 1916
- Founded in Old Dhaka, named after a zamindar called Nabakumar.
- 1969
- Standard IX student Matiur Rahman Mallik is shot dead by police during a demonstration; he becomes one of the named martyrs of the 1969 mass-upsurge movement.
- 1973
- The institution establishes a college branch on the same campus.
- 1998
- The government grants 10 million taka toward campus memorial facilities; the Matiur Rahman Memorial Library and Matiur Rahman Memorial Museum are subsequently established.
What we could not verify
These claims came up in research and could not be confirmed. They are recorded here rather than published as fact or quietly dropped. If you hold a source that settles one, please tell us.
- The school's own memorial signage and Bangladesh Awami League wreath-laying describe a "Shaheed Matiur Rahman Smiriti Saudha" (memorial) at the campus in Bakshibazar; Banglapedia separately describes a "Matiur Rahman Memorial Library and Museum" funded by a 1998 government grant. These may be the same or different physical memorials; this profile does not assume they are identical.
- No independent, present-day reporting on the school's current enrollment, academics or facilities was found; see the companion profile of Matiur Rahman Mallik for the fuller account of the 1969 events.
Sources
4 sources (3 tier 1, 1 first-party), each opened and read against the claim it supports. Statements the subject makes about itself are marked as such and are not treated as independent evidence. See the source policy.
Independent sourcing here is anchored in coverage of the 1969 mass-upsurge movement and its most-remembered student martyr, who attended this school, rather than in ordinary present-day institutional reporting — the school's day-to-day operations are covered only by its own website.
- Nabakumar Institute Supports: Founding year, founder, 1973 college branch, 1998 government memorial grant.
- Mass Upsurge Day today Supports: The 1969 killing of Matiur Rahman Mallik, a student of the school, and the campus memorial.
- Historic Mass Upsurge Day Tuesday Supports: Naming the school directly in connection with the 1969 killings and the annual wreath-laying.
- About us Supports: Present-day name and structure of the institution.
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