Protests against removal of baul statues continue to rage on
October 18, 2008
Staff Correspondent.
Protests against the removal of the baul sculptures from in front of the Zia International Airport continue to rage on.
Academics, writers, students, painters, sculptors, performers, artistes and cultural activists again demanded re-installation of the Baul sculptures, created by artist Mrinal Huq, in front of the airport.
They denounced the removal of the sculptures as the government’s craven capitulation to the threats issued by religious bigots who have no respect for the culture of their forefathers and their own country.
That the government is easily intimidated by religious extremists has been revealed by the way it has given in to their threat and the celerity with which it removed the sculptures of Bauls who follow the ideals of Lalan the mystic and lead simple lives, they said.
The Gana Sangeet Sanghati Parishad staged a rally in the premises of the Central Shaheed Minar on Friday to protest against the government’s submission to religious obscurantists. The rally was followed by performances.
The Progressive Students’ Alliance, a combine of left-leaning student bodies, brought out a procession on the campus of Dhaka University in the afternoon and demanded restoration of the sculptures.
Serajul Islam Choudhury, a Professor Emeritus of Dhaka University, said the fundamentalist axis got the chance to debase the culture of the soil because no government in Bangladesh had tried the war criminals in the 37 years of the country’s independence.
‘They want to destroy our local culture and as part of that conspiracy. The bigots, in the name of religion, are protesting against the sculpture that symbolises Lalan and his followers,’ he said.
‘The mystic works of Lalan enrich us with the teaching of humanity and are an inalienable part of our culture. The forces of darkness have begun their battle to destroy our traditions by removing the statues, and if they are not stopped now they will attack all the cultural sites throughout Bangladesh,’ he warned.
Golam Kuddus, general secretary of Sammilita Sangskitik Jote, said the chief adviser, the chief justice and the chief of army staff, who virtually control the government, have said several times that they want the trial of war criminals. ‘Then where is the obstacle? It is not difficult to try them because of the Collaborators Act of 1973. About 11,000 people were identified as war criminals and 700 of them were punished,’ he said.
Writer Jatin Sarkar, vocalist Fakir Alamgir and Gana Sangeet Parishad’s general secretary Mahbubul Haider Mohon also spoke at the rally.
The artistes of the Udichi Shilpi Goshthi, Bibartan and Sargam Shilpi Goshthi also sung people’s songs.
The activists of the Progressive Students’ Alliance began their procession from the TSC and paraded through the campus, chanting slogans, and stopped in front of the Raju Memorial Monument to stage a rally.
Leaders of the cultural organisations said that they would wage a movement if the government did not re-install the sculptures immediately.
Bangladesh Chhatra Union president Khan Asaduzzaman Masum, Samajtantrik Chhatra Front president Fakhruddin Atik, president of Biplabi Chhatra Maitree’s DU unit Hillol Roy, and president of the Dhaka University unit of the Bangladesh Chhatra Federation Luvana Tabassum addressed the rally.
They said it was alarming that the fundamentalists were attempting to destroy the country’s culture and the government was supporting them covertly by fulfilling their irrational demands.
The Bangladesh Chhatra Maitree also brought out a procession on the campus and raised the same demands.
Courtesy: NewAgebd
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[...] Artists, intellectuals, cultural activists, writers, teachers, students, and many others have since continuously protested the removal of the sculpture, both in Dhaka, and other cities and towns of Bangladesh. They have demanded its restoration, have re-named the roundabout Lalon Chottor, and accused the military-backed caretaker government of capitulating, yet again, to the demands of Islamic extremists, and forces opposing the 1971 war of liberation. [...]
[...] Protests against removal of baul statues continue to rage on [...]