The structures around Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman's sculpture 'Mrityunjaya', which was demolished on the day of the August 5 Uprising at Bijoy Sarani in Dhaka city and now a 'Gana Minar' will be built on the same place in memory of the July martyrs.
It is mentioned that the mural of Bangabandhu on the sculpture 'Mrityunjaya' was demolished with a bulldozer on August 5.
The work of building a new sculpture will begin in July. For this, initial preparations have been made, said Dhaka North City Corporation Administrator Mohammad Ejaz.
The work of demolishing the seven walls of the 'Mrityunjaya compound' built around the sculpture at Bijoy Sarani began on Friday morning, and it continued throughout the day. The statue of Bangabandhu was demolished in the premises on August 5 last year during the July-August uprising.
DNCC administrator Mohammad Ejaz said that the statue was in a 'messy' state when it was demolished. That is why the place has been 'cleaned'.
'The original statue has been demolished. The rest of it was destroyed due to the attack that day. There is no point in leaving it like this. If something new can be done there. That is why we are cleaning the place first.'
Mohammad Ejaz said that there is a plan to build another new sculpture in place of the sculpture, combining the history of Bangladesh's politics and July.
'Something will be done by combining July, victory, and the history of Bangladesh's politics. There will be another sculpture just like the sculpture was here. We will do the work within this July. Because if we clean it up and leave it, people will say again that it was abandoned. People pass by on the road, and they also wonder what will happen here then.'
A sculpture of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman named 'Mrityunjay' was displayed in the Victory Day parade in 2021 and 2022. Later, the sculpture was installed at Bijoy Sarani in Dhaka, and a 'Mrityunjayi Precinct' was built around the sculpture.
The seven walls of the square, built by the Bangladesh Army, depict Bangabandhu's contribution to the language movement, other movements, and the Bengali liberation and independence struggle. On November 10, 2023, Bangabandhu's Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina inaugurated the 'Mrityunjayi Precinct'.
Sheikh Hasina resigned from the post of Prime Minister on August 5 last year after the student-public uprising and fled the country to India. Like many other sculptures in Dhaka, Mrityunjay at Bijoy Sarani was also demolished that day.
Meanwhile, it was recently decided to build a 'Gana Minar' at Bijoy Sarani to preserve the memory of the sacrifices made in the July Uprising.
On June 20, the 'Gano Minar Implementation Committee' held a press conference at the Madhur Canteen of Dhaka University and announced that a program has been taken to collect public donations to ensure the involvement of the masses in this initiative.
Bangla Academy Director General Mohammad Azam said at the press conference, '1,400 people were martyred in the July-August mass uprising, thousands of people were injured. The Gano Minar will be built in their memory.'
The committee wants to give a preliminary visual appearance to this minar by August 5. Their plan has been arranged along the entire Bijoy Sarani.
