The government in Bangladesh has apparently taken a bow in the direction of a fundamentalist entity called Hefazat-e-Islam, if the raging controversy over a “statue of justice”, so-called, in front of the Supreme Court building in Dhaka is any indication. The removal by the authorities of a sculpture of a woman purportedly personifying justice has been effected in deference to the Chittagong-based Hefazat’s contention that art depicting “living beings” is proscribed by Islam. That it may now be re-installed in a different location only makes confusion worse confounded; the general outcry within the liberal segment may arguably have unnerved the authorities. The nub of the matter must be that appreciation and criticism of art are matters of subjective reflection, and an art-form as sophisticated as sculpture lends no scope for bigoted interpretation. It is more than obvious that the fundamentalists had an issue with the statue of the Greek goddess, Themis ~ a part of Dhaka’s landscape ~ and the supposedly secular government of the Awami League has distinctly played on the backfoot by ordering its removal at an inhospitable hour on Saturday. The removal by the government is a moral victory for Hefazat in a country that has been confronted with mortal fundamentalism over the past year. Is it possible that the Hasina government didn’t want to risk a confrontation ahead of the general elections next year? Having tiptoed in its response to the fundamentalist killings of bloggers and rationalists, it has consciously acceded to the demand of a decidedly Islamist entity which has now stepped up its clamour for the erasure of all public art representing humans or animals. The removal of the statue has succinctly been sized up by sculptor Mrinal Haque himself ~ “The statue was commissioned by the Supreme Court and erected only five months ago at a cost of Rs.14 lakh. The Awami government has capitulated to the demands of Hefazat.”

The strife within a religion is a symptom of a dichotomous situation. The portents are ominous, whether or not the statue is re-installed. Last weekend witnessed a setback for the liberal and secular segment, increasingly fighting a forbidding battle against the fundamentalists. As sinister as the onslaught on free thought and expression has been the campaign against what they call “representational art”. Having authorised its removal, Begum Hasina has in principle agreed to its re-installation within a span of 24 hours. As double-think runs wild, she needs to be more explicit while spelling out her stand. Last month, she distinctly played to the fundamentalist gallery when she wondered: “Why should the statue of the Greek Themis be set up in Bangladesh?” While the sculptor denies that the statue represented the Greek goddess, the Hasina government has tied itself up in knots.de