One and a half thousand sculptures and murals vandalized across the country including the capital

After the fall of the Sheikh Hasina government, around one and a half thousand sculptures, relief sculptures, murals and monuments have been vandalized, set on fire and uprooted across the country including the capital. Most of these sculptures and murals were of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, centered on the freedom struggle and liberation war. Shashilej's Venus statue in Mymensingh, Supreme Court's Themis and Shishu Academy's Durant sculpture were also destroyed.

According to the inquiry, between August 5 and 14, 1,494 sculptures, relief sculptures, murals and monuments were vandalized, set on fire and uprooted in 59 districts. Most of the incidents of vandalism and arson took place on August 5, 6 and 7.

More than 122 sculptures, murals and relief sculptures were vandalized, set on fire and uprooted at 15 places in Dhaka metropolitan area. 7 sculptures of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman's complete structure have been destroyed. A total of 1,492 sculptures, relief sculptures, murals and monuments including 273 in Dhaka Division, 204 in Chittagong Division, 166 in Rajshahi, 479 in Khulna, 100 in Barisal, 129 in Rangpur, 49 in Sylhet and 92 in Mymensingh Division were destroyed, uprooted and burnt.

Hamiduzzaman Khan, the traditional sculptor of the country, said, 'I am very sad, overwhelmed. It should not have happened. And so that such an incident does not happen. We hope that the renovation work will start soon.'

Two murals of Bangabandhu were damaged during the attack-vandalism at house number 32 in Dhanmondi. Five damaged and destroyed sculptures were visited in the capital, some were completely destroyed with hammer and shovel, some were uprooted, some sculptures were burnt in fire.

Freedom fighter, artist Shamim Shikder's 'Swadhitan Sangram' sculpture is located at Palashi intersection in the capital. There are hundreds of individual sculptures, large and small. Only five of them are intact. The rest have been uprooted. On the afternoon of August 11, bust sculptures of poets, writers, revolutionaries, politicians and scientists from all over the country can be seen lying on the ground. These include Ishwarchandra Vidyasagar to Yasir Arafat, Jagadishchandra Bose to Lalan.

The 'Durant' burning of the Shishu Academy premises was reported on August 8. That afternoon, when the children went to the academy, it was seen that Durantar Angar's body was lying in the rubble. Only the baby's face was intact. The striking sculpture of a boy running on a wheel with a stick was installed in 2008. Sheikh Russell's mural next to it was also burnt to ashes.

Sheikh Mujibur Rahman's 'Mrityunjay' sculpture was recently installed at Vijay Sarani. 'Mrityunjai Prangan' was inaugurated on November 10 last year. On the afternoon of August 5, it was seen that an attempt was being made to demolish the sculpture of the huge figure at Vijay Sarani. Mrityunjaya was destroyed by tying ropes, fire, and sabals.

The statue of Themis, installed in front of the Supreme Court's High Court Division extension building, was pulled down in two phases. Since 2016, there were many disagreements about this sculpture. Modeled after the Greek goddess Themis as a symbol of justice, the sculpture held a symbol of justice. It was lifted on August 7.

Meherpur's 'Mujibnagar Memorial Complex' is considered to be a single sculpture, but there were more than five hundred separate sculptures. At least 303 large and small sculptures of the complex were vandalized. First of all, the huge sculpture of Bangabandhu was broken. Around five o'clock in the afternoon on August 5, hundreds of youths entered the memorial complex with rods, bamboos and hammers. First they smashed the head of Bangabandhu's sculpture. At the same time, the 'Guard of Honor of April 17' sculpture was randomly struck.

Venus sculpture in Mymensingh's Shashilja broken, head stolen. Sashilj museum supervisor Sabina Yasmin told Prothom Alo, “Hundreds of people attacked and vandalized. The head of the sculpture was not found. It was an invaluable asset.' The bust of Shilpacharya Zainul Abedin in front of the Zainul Museum in this city was also damaged. However, local artists later renovated it.

Two sculptures of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman were completely demolished in Khulna. A liberation war memorial under construction in the district town of Madaripur was named 'Palashi to Dhanmondi'. Everything inside this memorial, located on the banks of Shakuni lake in the heart of the city, was destroyed on the afternoon of August 7.

After August 5, sculptures were vandalized at three places in Gazipur. The relief sculpture of Sat Bir Shrestha was damaged. It was towards the interior of Joydevpur. More than 12 murals in front of Shahjalal University, MC College, Zilla Parishad, District Commissioner's office in Sylhet have been vandalized. All of them belong to Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. The sculpture known as 'Tarjani' has been burnt in Narsandhi. There, the index finger was made in imitation of the scene of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman holding up a finger in his March 7 speech.

Nasimul Khabir, chairman of the sculpture department of Dhaka University's Faculty of Fine Arts, said that the list of damaged sculptures is being prepared. Emphasis is placed on selecting damaged or destroyed sculptures for restoration. Determining which process to reform requires the involvement of experts. But not all can be reformed.

Source: Prothom Alo.

Bangladesh /OF