Bangladesh: Vandals destroy iconic 1971 war memorial sculpture

Statue

Images of widespread vandalism in Bangladesh resurfaced when Congress MP Shashi Tharoor shared  an image of the broken statue which depicted the moment Pakistan surrendered after the 1971 war. A statue meant to commemorate the liberation of Bangladesh has been destroyed by "anti-India vandals", Congress leader Shashi Tharoor said today

The sculpture was a real-life reproduction of the iconic photograph that records Pakistani general's formal surrender to Indian forces.

Former Bangladesh prime minister Sheikh Hasina resigned and fled from Bangladesh on August 5 as violent protesters neared her official residence in Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh.

Taking on 'anti-India vandals' in Bangladesh who have attacked cultural centres, temples and 'Hindu homes', Tharoor urged Muhammad Yunus to restore law and order in the country currently in the grip of widespread violence that erupted during and after mass protests against quotas in government jobs. Muhammad Yunus, a Nobel laureate, is currently the head of interim government in Bangladesh.

Sad to see images like this of statues at the 1971 Shaheed Memorial Complex, Mujibnagar, destroyed by anti-India vandals," the Thiruvananthapuram MP said in a post on X (formerly Twitter).   "This follows disgraceful attacks on the Indian cultural centre, temples, and Hindu homes in several places, even as reports came in of Muslim civilians protecting other minority homes and places of worship," he added.

Sheikh Hasina was widely perceived to be friendly towards India. The daughter of Bangladesh's founder Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, whom India actively supported before and after 1971 war, Sheikh Hasina kept extreme Islamist groups under check.

Now that Hasina has left the political stage, her rival Khaleda Zia is widely expected to make a comeback. Zia is not known to have a pro-India slant as pronounced as Sheikh Hasina's.