Staff Reporter :
The statue of Lady Justice, which was removed earlier on Friday at the directives of authorities concerned, was reinstalled in front of the Supreme Court’s annex building early Sunday.
Sculptor Mrinal Haque, who made the statue, supervised the reinstallation process.
Supreme Court sources said, the statue was reinstalled at the new spot so that it would not be visible directly from the nearby Eid congregation. Earlier, the court authorities re moved the statue amid massive protest from the progressive section.
In an instant reaction, Ameer of Hefajat-e Islam Shah Amhed Shafi on Sunday expressed his disappointment for reinstalling the sculpture of Lady Justice in front of the SC annex building.
“Reinstalling of the Greek statue of Lady Justice is nothing but a mockery with the people’s religious sentiment,” Ahmed Shafi said in a statement yesterday.
Terming the incident “very disappointing,” he said, “We are stunned and speechless over the issue.”
He called upon the authority concerned to remove the sculpture from the country forever.
Besides, different other Islamist organisations including Khelafat Andolon, Bangladesh Jomiatul Ulama, Jomiat e Olama e Islam and Islamic scholars also came down heavily for reinstalling the statue of Lady Justice.
Meanwhile, a Dhaka court yesterday granted bail to four people, arrested during protests against the removal of the statue of Greek goddess from the Supreme Court premises, in a case filed for obstructing the police from performing their duties.
Those who got bail are: Chhatra Union central committee general secretary Liton Nandi, its Dhaka College unit president Morshed Ali, its Lalbagh thana unit organising secretary Al Amin Hossain Joy and Udichi Shilpigosthi leader Arif Noor.
Dhaka Metropolitan Magistrate AKM Moinuddin Siddique passed the order after the hearing of a bail petition filed by Bangladesh Legal Aid and Services Trust (BLAST) lawyer Barrister Sara Hossain.
On Saturday, the four accused were sent to jail after sub-inspector of Shahbagh Police Station Mirza Badrul Hasan, also the investigation officer of the case, produced them before the court.
Zulfikul Islam, a Sub-Inspector of Shahbagh Police Station, filed the case against the four leaders and 120-140 unnamed people with the police station on Friday night.
However, various political, students’ and cultural organisations were demanding reinstallation of the statue on the same spot after it was removed in the wee hours of Friday to appease a radical Islamist outfit, Hefazat-e Islami Bangladesh.
A writ was filed with the High Court, seeking removal of the statue from the Supreme Court premises on April 9, 2017. The Islamist organization Hefazat-e-Islam Bangladesh also demanded the removal of the statue on February 11 last.
The sculptor told the media that the reinstallation work began around 10pm on Saturday with the Supreme Court’s instruction and completed around 12:45am Sunday with the help of around 30 workers.
“I do not like the new location of the statue. Thousands of people could see it from where it was originally located,” he said.
Right leaning organizations say the statue at the Supreme Court, an adaptation of Greek Goddess Themis in a sari, goes against Islamic tenets.
