Bangabandhu murals, sculptures, nameplates vandalised across Jashore

A group of youths have vandalised sculptures and murals of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman in Jashore city.

Witnesses said that around 10pm on Wednesday, 25 to 30 youths arrived at the Muktijoddha Complex in the city on 10 to 12 motorcycles, while wielding hammers, iron pipes, and axes. They struck repeatedly at a mural of Bangabandhu, eventually demolishing it. Later, they also vandalised multiple nameplates in several other locations across the city.

The vandals began their attack by shouting slogans such as “Naraye Takbir, Allahu Akbar” and “Inqilab Zindabad,” according to witnesses, before launching into a spree of destruction that targeted symbols of Bangabandhu.

After demolishing the mural at the Muktijoddha Complex, the youths moved to the Zilla Parishad premises, where they vandalised another mural of Bangabandhu.

They continued their rampage into the old town, making their way to the Central Shaheed Minar, where they defaced a nameplate bearing the name of Sheikh Hasina.

Later, their destructive spree descended upon the central Shaheed Minar in the the old Kasba neighbourhood, where they defaced and ultimately destroyed a nameplate crediting Sheikh Hasina as an initiator of the site.

The group then moved to the Central Shaheed Minar in Old Kasba, where they defaced another nameplate bearing the name of Hasina as the site’s initiator.

The spree of vandalism continued as the youths targeted at least seven to eight government institutions across the city, systematically destroying nameplates inscribed with Hasina’s name.

By the latest reports, the vandals had also targeted the “Victory Pillar” of the Liberation War, defacing a mural of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and destroying its nameplate.

Despite the scale of the attacks, no law-enforcing personnel were present at the scene during the incidents.