B’desh: Ink thrown on Bangabandhu’s image in Independence Memorial Mural

Dhaka, July 18 (IANS) In yet another incident of vandalism targeting historical representations of Bangladesh’s Liberation War in 1971, the image of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman in the Independence Memorial Mural ‘Arjon’ has been defaced with ink.

The incident unfolded on Thursday night at the Modern Crossroads in Rangpur City of Bangladesh when a group of students associated with last year’s violent July uprising erased the image with spray cans and black paint, using a beam lifter of the Rangpur City Corporation, Bangladesh’s leading Bangla daily, Prothom Alo reported.

The Independence Memorial Mural ‘Arjan’ depicts the historical events of March 28, 1971, when the brave people of Rangpur surrounded the cantonment with batons, sticks, spears, maces and bows and arrows during the early days of the country’s Liberation War against Pakistan.

The mural was formally inaugurated in 1999 and stood at a height of approximately 35 feet.

“The symbol of Sheikh Hasina’s autocratic government has been demolished from various places. I asked the Students’ Movement Against Discrimination and the NCP to remove Sheikh Mujibur Rahman’s picture from the mural at Modern Mor, but they did not take the initiative. So we, the wounded July fighters, removed the picture,” Prothom Alo quoted one of the students, Rajibul Islam, who took part in the vandalism, as saying.

In April, a mob of radicals demolished the Martyred Intellectuals Memorial in Dhaka’s Mirpur area.

The monument was a symbol of the genocide committed by the Pakistan Army during the Liberation War of Bangladesh.

As the video of the demolition went viral, several Bangladeshis took to social media, severely condemning the disturbing act, which displays the current lawlessness prevailing in Bangladesh under the interim government led by Yunus.

Experts perceived this act of the interim government as an insult to the martyrs and a part of their appeasement policy towards Pakistan.

The memorial in the Mirpur area of Dhaka honoured the luminaries who sacrificed their lives for the country’s independence during the war with Pakistan.

In a similar act, the mural of the Liberation War Memorial Mancha in Lalmonirhat district in Bangladesh was demolished at the instruction of the Yunus-led interim government in March.

The mural showcased the background of the 1950s language movement, the historic March 7 speech, the War of Independence, the formation of the Mujibnagar government, the dawn of the new sun in the independent land, the 1971 genocide by Pakistan, the heroic freedom fighters exulting in victory, the seven great heroes, the surrender of the Pakistani army, the jubilant crowd holding the national flag, and many other historic moments.

The Dhaka South City Corporation (DSCC) had also rechristened different roads, buildings, and structures previously named after Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, his family members, and leaders of the Awami League. Bangabandhu Avenue has now been renamed as Shaheed Abrar Fahad Avenue, according to an order issued by the DSCC.

About 1500 sculptures, murals, and memorials have been vandalised, set on fire, and uprooted all over the country since the Yunus government came to power in August 2024 after the fall of the Awami League government led by former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.

–IANS

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