Allegation against Awami League leader for demolishing Bangabandhu’s mural

Bangabandhu’s eye-catching mural was smashed with a hammer on the orders of the Awami League president and Zilla Parishad chairman in Kushtia. The spectacular mural, which was recently constructed at a cost of around crores of rupees in the under-construction multi-storied shopping complex area of ​​the Zilla Parishad, was removed after it was vandalized. This has created great anger among the city dwellers including the party leaders and workers themselves.

It is known that the old office building of Kushtia Zilla Parishad was removed in Thanpara area, which is known as the heart of the city, and the then Zilla Parishad Chairman Haji Rabiul Islam started construction of a modern shopping complex with 14-storey building at that place in 2018. About 90 percent of the project has already been completed. Apart from this, the mural of Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman was constructed in the open area on the eastern side of the under construction shopping complex. But later the president of district Awami League and the current chairman of district council Sadar Uddin Khan blocked it by constructing 6/7 single-storey shop-houses outside the design behind Bangabandhu’s mural built along with the east side of the multi-storey building. Because of Bangabandhu’s mural in front of those shops, which are not designed for commercial purposes only, the traffic path becomes narrow. As a result, the workers on the orders of the chairman of the district council completely smashed the mural by beating it with a big hammer for the last three days. However, the chairman of that district council installed a portrait of Bangabundhu on the front wall of the under-construction multi-storied shopping complex building to protect himself. This caused anger among the townspeople.

Expressing anger, Volunteer League leader Sohel Rana said, Father of the Nation Bangubandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman made our country independent. The incident of breaking his mural is a big injustice and very sad.

Former Chairman of Kushtia Zilla Parishad and Senior Vice President of District Awami League, Haji Rabiul Islam expressed his anger and condemnation and said that the present Chairman Sadar Uddin Khan has committed a grave crime by breaking the magnificent mural of Bangabandhu for the sake of little money. He sought justice with the Prime Minister’s intervention for this brazen crime.

Zilla Parishad Chairman Sadar Uddin Khan, accused in this regard, said that the mural of Bangabandhu had fallen in the corner of the bathroom and behind the eyes. I will tear it down and create a new mural in front of the building.

However, Zilla Parishad Chief Executive Officer Zainul Abedin admitted the truth and said, I am not fully aware of this. However, he said that Bangabandhu’s mural was destroyed on the order of the chairman of the Zilla Parishad in Soundaryavardhan.

Kushtia District Commissioner Md. Ehetesham Reza said that the permission of the Bangabandhu Museum authority in Dhanmondi is mandatory in the case of removing or installing Bangabandhu’s mural. The matter is being investigated. If there is a violation in this case, action will be taken on the instructions of the higher authority.

It should be noted that this mural of Bangabandhu was built at a cost of around one crore rupees in 2019.