Greek goddess statue being removed to bring situation under control: SC
Dhaka: The removal of the statue of Greek goddess of Justice Themis was made to bring the situation under control, claims the Supreme Court authorities.
Additional Registrar (Justice and Administration) of High Court Sabbir Foyez on Friday afternoon told NTV Online the sculpture was taken down to avoid any uninvited situation.
However, the SC official said the authorities did not take any decision on where the sculpture will be installed next.
Sabbir Foyez said further decision about the installation of the statue will be taken later.
Earlier, the statue of Greek goddesses Themis was removed from the Supreme Court premises in Dhaka.
Some workers started removing the statue at about on Thursday night and concluded the removal early on Friday. However, the sculptor Mrinal Huq was present during the removal work to ensure the statue was not damaged.
On February 2017, Hardline Islamists including Hefajat-e-Islam staged protests calling for the statue of Greek goddess installed at the Supreme Court to be destroyed or removed.
The sculpture of Themis, the blindfolded deity of justice and order, has ruffled feathers in the country since it was unveiled on December, 2016 on the premises of Bangladesh Supreme Court.
On April 2017, Earlier on April 8, a writ was filed with the High Court seeking removal of the statue from the Supreme Court premises.
According to the writ petition, the installation of a statue in front of the Supreme Court is contradictory to articles 12 and 23 of the Constitution. It also hurts the religious sentiment of the people as 95 percent people of the total population are Muslims.
On 21 April, Islami Andolan Bangladesh demanded that the remove of statue before Ramadan.
Earlier, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina apparently backed the Islamists by expressing her dislike for the statue.
Sheikh Hasina broke her silence last month after inviting top Islamist leaders to her residence where she described the statue as ‘ridiculous’.
‘I don’t like it myself. It’s being called a Greek statue, but how did a Greek statue get here?’ she said.