Hardline Muslim group demand removal of Bangabandhu statue in Kolkata

A hardline Muslim group in West Bengal,that enjoys close relations with some top ministers of the state's ruling Trinamul Congress, has demanded the removal of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman's statue from a Calcutta college hostel.

In 2011 the marble bust of Bangabandhu was installed in the Baker Hostel of Kolkata's Maulana Azad College (formerly Islamia College), where the great leader stayed during his days as a student in undivided Bengal.

Then Foreign MInister Dipu Moni inaugurated it.

Flowers and wreaths are placed on the statue by Bangabandhu's many admirers in Kolkata on his birth anniversary.

Now the All Bengal Minority Youth Federation (ABMYF) has demanded the statue should be removed because it is "not in keeping with Islamic practices".

In a statement, the ABMYF secretary Mohammed Qamruzzaman attacked Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina for installing this bust in 2011.

"How can she, being a Muslim, install the statue of her father in a Muslim institution! This is un-Islamic and Indian Muslims don’t accept this," Qamruzzaman said in the statement.

He said his organisation appeals to West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee, Indian foreign minister Sushma Swaraj and Bangladesh prime minister Sheikh Hasina to initiate the process to remove the Bangabandhu statue from Baker Hostel.

Snapshot of the All Bengal Minority Youth Federation (ABMYF) statement demanding removal of Bangabandhu's statue

"Keep it anywhere else in Kolkata, in any government space, we don’t have a problem," said the ABMYF statement.

The ABMYF is trying to stir up trouble on the issue just after Bangabandhu's 97th birth anniversary was observed in Kolkata, as in Bangladesh.

It is also significant that the ABMYF is trying to whip up unrest ahead of Sheikh Hasina's visit to India.

ABMYF supporters outside Bangladesh deputy high commission in Kolkata to demand removal of Bangabandhu statue

When the ABMYF leaders tried on Tuesday to submit a memorandum to back their demand to the Bangladesh Deputy High Commission in Kolkata, the serving diplomats in the mission refused to accept it.

They later submitted the memorandum to a nearby police station.

The ABMYF is a hardline Muslim organisation which has previously held rallies in Kolkata opposing the war crimes trials in Bangladesh and the execution of leaders of BNP and Jamaat-e-Islami found guilty of committing 'crimes against humanity'.

Current Trinamool Congress Minister Siddiqullah Chowdhury shared the dais with ABMYF leaders in these protests.

ABMYF secretary Qamruzzaman and Trinamul minister Siddiqullah Chowdhury share the dais in a rally

 

Chowdhury was inducted into Mamata Banerjee's cabinet after the 2016 Bengal elections.

He was a top leader of Maulana Badruddin Ajmal's AIUDF (an Assam-based political party) and has been the state chief of Jamait-e-Ulema-e Hind.

Earlier in the week, Bangladesh deputy high commissioner in Kolkata Jokey Ahad met Siddiqullah Chowdhury, ostensibly to present him some books. 

Bangladesh deputy high commissioner Jokey Ahad meets Trinamul minister Siddiqullah Chowdhury on Monday

 

Speculation is rife that Ahad was perhaps trying to break the ice with Mamata Banerjee who has steadfastly opposed the Teesta water sharing agreement that India wants to sign with Bangladesh.

A local daily "Kalam" carried the news item of the Siddiqullah-Ahad meeting, saying Ahad had met  Mamata Banerjee who had "asked him" to meet Siddiqullah.

Bangladesh foreign ministry officials in Dhaka however said they were not aware of the Siddiqullah-Ahad meeting.

Some Bangladesh diplomats in India said they would not expect much in terms of a breakthrough if the chief minister was directing the deputy high commissioner to meet  Siddiqullah Chowdhury, who is known to be hostile to the present government in Dhaka specially on the war crimes issue.

They say the demand to remove the Bangabandhu statue now could be a "conspiracy " to adversely impact Sheikh Hasina's impending visit to India.

"This statue has been around for seven years and nobody including ABMYF raised the issue. Why now?" asked a Bangladesh diplomat, on condition of anonymity.

Chief MInister Mamata Banerjee with Siddiqullah Chowdhury

 

Siddiqullah Chowdhury enjoys the confidence of Mamata Banerjee who sees him as one of the key to influence the large Muslim electorate in West Bengal.