Kushtia, Dec 18 – Only two weeks after the vandalism of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman’s sculpture in Kushtia, yet unidentified miscreants vandalised the sculpture of British revolutionary leader Baghajatin. Vandals damaged the nose and parts of the right cheek of the sculpture installed at Kaya College in Kumarkhali Upazila, police said.
Kushtia’s Additional Superintendent of Police Atiqul Islam Atiq said one of their teams had visited the spot.
He said they were conducting drives to identify and arrest the vandals.
Bangabandhu’s under-construction sculpture at Panch Rastar Mor area of Kushtia was vandalised on Dec 4, sparking countrywide protests. The face and hands of the sculpture were damaged.
The construction of the sculpture, Bangabandhu delivering his historic March 7 speech, started on November 17 and was nearing completion.
Ruling Awami League General Secretary Obaidul Quader has made it clear that any attempt to destroy religious tolerance in the country would be dealt with strictly.
He said damaging of Bangabandhu’s sculpture in Kushtia is “an attack on the soul of Bangladesh” and warned that those involved in the crime cannot be let go.
On November 13, Islami Andolan Bangladesh Nayeb-e-Ameer Faizul Karim and Hefazat-e-Islam Bangladesh Joint Secretary General Mamunul Haque opposed the setting up of another sculpture of the Father of the Nation in the capital.
On December 2, Turkish Ambassador to Bangladesh Mustafa Osman Turan said a sculpture of Bangabandhu would be set up in Ankara. Also, another sculpture of Kemal Ataturk, father of modern Turkey, would be set up in Dhaka.
Last month, Liberation War Affairs Minister AKM Mozammel Haque said a 26-feet high sculpture of Bangabandhu would be installed at Suhrawardy Udyan.
The High Court in a rule on March 4, 2018, asked the government to explain why directives should not be given to set up a Bangabandhu’s speech-mode sculpture at the place where he had delivered the historic March 7 speech.
Meanwhile, the defacing of Bangabandhu’s sculpture in Kushtia prompted the High Court to ask the authorities concerned to ensure the security of all sculptures of the Father of the Nation across the country. – UNB
