Minar was sponsored by Pearu Sardar, one of the old Dhaka panchayet sardars, when some of the students asked his help at midnight of 22 February, to contribute the raw materials needed to build the monument. Although curfew was in place, students started building the Minar in the afternoon of 23 February. They worked through the night and finished it at dawn. A hand written paper was attached to the Minar with "Shaheed Smritistombho" written on it. The original Minar was on a base measuring . The Minar was inaugurated by the father of Shafiur Rahman, Molvi. Mahabubur Rahman, who killed during the massacre. It was demolished on 26 February by the police and Pakistani Army. Smaller versions of the memorial were built in other places. The first Shaheed Minar monument was then destroyed four days after its erection, on February 26, 1952, by the Pakistani Police and Army. A signboard placed by the police force on top of the rubble from the Minar read "mosque". Two years after the first monument was destroyed by the then police force, a new Shaheed Minar (Monument of Martyrs) was constructed in 1954 at the same place, to commemorate the protesters who lost their lives. This minar was inaugurated by the then Professor of Dhaka University and the pioneer and most prominent cultural and literary personality Natyaguru Nurul Momen. Work on a larger monument designed by the architect Hamidur Rahman began in 1957 with the support of the United Front government. Shaheed Minar (1963–1971) Following the formation of local government by the United Front in April 1954, the anniversary of 21 February was declared a holiday and it became possible to construct the new monument. A foundation stone was laid in 1956, and a government committee chaired by University of Dhaka Vice-Chancellor Dr Mahmud Husain and including the principal of the Fine College of Arts, Zainul Abedin, was constituted to plan, design, and approve the monument's construction. The committee approved the design of sculptor Hamidur Rahman, followed by the construction of Shaheed Minar, starting in 1957. Hamidur Rahman's model was a huge complex on a large area of land in the yard of Dhaka Medical College Hostel. The enormous design included a half-circular column to symbolise the mother with her fallen sons standing on the monument's central dais. Yellow and deep blue pieces of stained glass, symbolising eyes reflecting the sun, were also