 The hotel, which had been declared a "neutral zone", nonetheless came under fire from both combatants in the war—the Mukti Bahini and Pakistani army.At the conclusion of the war, the Hotel Intercontinental was at first chosen as the venue for the surrender ceremony of the West Pakistan Army; however, the final surrender ceremony later took place in the nearby Ramna Park (now Suhrawardy Uddan).Shahbag is part of the 181st electoral district of Bangladesh