‘Form laws to punish vandals’

Ekattorer Ghatak Dalal Nirmul Committee yesterday expressed serious concern over vandalism of revolutionary Jatindranath Mukherjee's sculpture in Kushtia. Popularly known as Bagha Jatin, Jatindranath was a freedom fighter who rebelled against British rule in India.

In a statement, the committee's president Shahriar Kabir and general secretary Kazi Mukul demanded new laws to punish individuals and organisations involved in these kinds of activities.

On Thursday night, miscreants vandalised the sculpture at Kaya village of Kumarkhali upazila. In the first week of this month, miscreants smashed an under-construction sculpture of Bangabandhu at a key intersection in Kushtia town.

The committee believes that the latest incident is a continuation of threatening moves to destroy sculptures by Hefazat and Khelafat leaders, the statement said.

They also demanded immediate arrest and trial of those responsible for the vandalism and instigators.

"Article 24 of the constitution puts responsibility on the state to protect historically and culturally significant monuments of Bangalees, including sculptures, from distortion, destruction or removal, but the government failed in this regard," it added.