[2][3] The initial proposal for a memorial at Rayer Bazar was brought forward by Projonmo 71 (organisation of the children of the martyrs of liberation war), who also laid a temporary foundation stone in 1991.

During the entire duration of the Bangladesh Liberation War of 1971, a large number of teachers, doctors, engineers, poets and writers were systematically massacred by the Pakistan Army and their local collaborators, most notably the alleged Islamist militia groups Al-Badr and Al-Shams.

On the night of 14 December 1971, over 200 of East Pakistan's intellectuals including professors, journalists, doctors, artists, engineers, and writers were rounded up in Dhaka.

The Ministry of Housing and Works Department and the Institute of Architects Bangladesh jointly organised a national-level architectural competition for the design of the memorial "Badhya Bhumi Smriti Soudha".

The main element of the monument is approximately 17.7 m high, 0.9 m thick and 115.8 m long curved brick wall, representing the original brickfield of Rayer Bazar where the dead bodies were found.