The court directives were issued on a writ petition filed by General (retd) K.M. Shafiullah, a former army chief who fought in the 1971 war and historian Muntasir Mamun, seeking preservation of two national heritage sites in the park.

The court observed: 'Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman is not only the father of the nation but also the architect and symbol of the independence of the country.'

The park has a century-old history. Laid during the British era as the military club of the British soldiers, the park was called the Ramna Race Course ground and later, Ramna Gymkhana.

During the Pakistan era, it came to have a memorial to the 1954 movement against Urdu's imposition and for Bengali language and culture. It was named after Husein Shaheed Suhrawardy, chief minister of undivided Bengal during the British era who later became prime minister.

It is the resting place of three national leaders, Sher-e-Bangla A.K. Fazlul Huq and two Pakistan prime ministers, Khwaja Nazimuddin and Suhrawardy.

It was also the site of the centuries-old Ramna Kali Mandir, a Hindu temple and a Dhaka landmark that was razed to the ground by the Pakistan Army March 27, 1971 in a massacre that led to the death of over 100 people.