Police foil demo over removal of Greek goddess from SC premises

Law enforcers today foiled a procession towards the Supreme Court (SC) in protest of removal of the statue of Greek goddess of Justice Themis from the apex court premises.

Police lobbed several tear gas canisters and used water cannons to disperse the protesters when they reached near High Court Mazar around noon.

Several protesters including Liton Nandi, president of Bangladesh Chhatra Union, were detained from the spot.

After facing police action, the protesters announced nationwide demonstration at all educational institutions tomorrow.

“If the Greek goddess statue is not reinstalled at the SC premises within 24 hours, we will announce a tough protest programme,” Nasiruddin Prince, general secretary of Samajtantrik Chhatra Front threatened.

The procession was brought out by several hundred youths from different organisations around 11:30am demanding reinstallation of the SC structure.

Earlier in the morning, the youths under the banner of Chhatra Janata gathered at Raju Memorial Sculpture on Dhaka University campus. Later, they tried to march towards the apex court premises.

Meanwhile, Gonojagoron Mancha, a platform that demands maximum punishment for war criminals of 1971, will bring out a torch procession at Shahbagh in the evening.

The statue was taken down from the SC premises early today amid protests. Labourers took the statue on a pickup van around 4:25am today.

Some five to seven workers around 11:30pm yesterday began hammering at the base of the statue while four to five other people, including Mrinal Haque, were overseeing the work.

Protesting the incident, some 100 youths, under the banner of Bikkhubdo Nagorik (aggrieved citizens), gathered near the SC premises and blocked the road around 2:00am. They were chanting slogans like - “Joy Bangla, why surrender to Hefajat?”

There was a pickup parked nearby. Journalists were not allowed inside the premises.

Contacted, Attorney General Mahbubey Alam said the chief justice (SK Sinha) had a meeting with the incumbent and former presidents and general secretaries of the Supreme Court Bar Association, including eminent jurist Dr Kamal Hossain. At the meeting, the chief justice sought their opinion about removing the statue.

“They opined that it should be removed to avert any untoward situation,” he told The Daily Star, adding that the statue might be relocated to a place near the Supreme Court Museum, which is also on the SC premises.

Source: thedailystar