Defaced Bangabandhu Sculpture: Arrest the culprits immediately

Fifteen eminent citizens, mostly cultural personalities, yesterday demanded immediate arrest of culprits who recently vandalised an under-construction sculpture of Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman in Kushtia.

In a joint statement, they said opposing setting up of sculptures and damaging Bangabandhu's sculpture are anti-constitutional and are also against the spirit of a secular and democratic Bangladesh.

Terming the defacers of Bangabandhu's sculpture "enemies of humanity and traitors", the eminent personalities demanded their immediate arrest.

"These bigoted fundamentalist forces are delivering anti-sculpture sermons with false interpretation of the Holy Quran and announcing that they would root out the sculptures," said the statement, signed by cultural activist and valiant freedom fighter Nasiruddin Yousuff.

Sculpture is one of the oldest media of art. Sculptures give testimony of time and human civilizations artistically. Fundamentalist forces want to turn Bangladesh into a backward country by rejecting the significance of sculpture and science, the eminent citizens added.

They said they were "stunned and shocked" to see that fundamentalists had dared to vandalise Bangabandhu's sculpture in Kushtia on Saturday.

"We urge the government and the people to resist this anti-human civilization bigoted militant force unitedly. We demand the government strongly resist these evil forces," the statement said.

Among the signatories to the statement are: Abdul Gaffar Choudhury, Shamsuzzaman Khan, Hasan Azizul Haque, Anupam Sen, Sarwar Ali, Ramendu Majumdar, Ferdousi Majumdar, Abdus Selim, Mamunur Rashid, Mofidul Hoque, Shofi Ahmed, Abul Momen, Sara Zaker, and Shimul Yousuff.