Published : 30 Sep 2026, 07:00 PM
Updated : 30 Sep 2026, 07:00 PM
What should stand where Pakistan surrendered in 1971? A fountain is not the answer, Liberation War Affairs Minister Ahmed Azam Khan says, rejecting reports that one would replace the planned sculpture.
The minister on Wednesday said the government is instead discussing how to complete the Independence Monument, including the site where Pakistani forces surrendered in 1971.
“There was a plan for the surrender of Pakistani soldiers, and whether a fountain would be built there -- we have had no discussion or taken any such step,” he said.
The minister spoke after a meeting with Indian High Commissioner Dinesh Trivedi at the Secretariat on Wednesday.
bdnews24.com News Service reported on Sept 26 that a fountain was planned instead of the surrender sculpture, prompting criticism of the government.
Although the minister now denies the report, he had declined to comment when contacted for it, advising reporters to speak to “the officials responsible”.
Several ministry officials were subsequently contacted. Additional Secretary Hasna Jahan Khanam, then serving as acting secretary, referred reporters to Additional Secretary Shahjahan Mia, who in turn referred them to Deputy Secretary Polly Kar.
The ministry document containing the fountain proposal bears Kar’s signature. She said she was not authorised to speak to the media but acknowledged signing the document.
The “Construction of Independence Monument at Suhrawardy Udyan, Dhaka” project began in 2018 and is scheduled to run until June 2027.
It originally included two sculptures marking Bangabandhu’s Mar 7 speech and the Pakistani forces’ surrender.
The work stopped after the Awami League-led government fell on Aug 5, 2024, and both sites were vandalised.
In March last year, the Muhammad Yunus-led interim government said the sculptures would not be built.
Documents later showed plans under the BNP-led government for fountains at both sites. Minister Azam, however, said the idea originated under the interim government.
“There was discussion during the interim government about what could be done there,” he said.
He said the current government was instead reviewing how to realise the monument’s “core spirit” in line with its election manifesto.
“Replacing the surrender sculpture with a fountain is simply not true,” he said, referring to the report.
Three days earlier, the ministry had posted a similar statement on Facebook, saying no decision had been taken to install fountains instead of the sculptures.
It said the interim government might have discussed or considered the idea.
The ministry said the current government was reviewing the Independence Monument project in the national interest and consulting stakeholders.
The ministry’s statement, however, did not explain the documents cited in the report.
