Bir Sreshtha Hamidur Rahman monument demolition halted

The Jhenaidah district administration has halted the removal of a square dedicated to Bir Sreshtha Hamidur Rahman.

The decision followed public criticism sparked by a report in The Daily Star on the demolition of the structure. Workers involved in dismantling the monument have not been seen at the site since yesterday.

Although the demolition began on July 13, the relevant government offices remained silent, with no agency acknowledging responsibility for the removal.

Meanwhile, some people sought to justify the demolition by stirring debate on social media over whether the structure could be classified as a sculpture.

Jhenaidah Deputy Commissioner Md Noman Hossain said, “Before media the report, I was unaware that the structure was a monument to Bir Sreshtha Hamidur Rahman, as its appearance did not make that clear. I later learned that construction had been halted shortly after it began following objections from local residents. However, as soon as I found out that it depicted Bir Sreshtha Hamidur Rahman, I took immediate steps to stop the demolition.”

Asked whether any investigation had been conducted into the matter, he replied, “I do not want to revisit the past, and I will not make any further comments on it.”

“We have made a policy decision that after consulting freedom fighters, members of civil society, and people from all walks of life, a full-fledged sculpture of Bir Sreshtha Hamidur Rahman will be installed at an appropriate location with due honour,” he added.

However, members of Bir Sreshtha Hamidur Rahman's family and representatives of civil society alleged that unnecessary controversy had been deliberately created around the sculpture in an attempt to divert attention from the actual issue.

According to Jhenaidah municipality, it inaugurated construction of the monument at the entrance to Jhenaidah town beside the Central Bus Terminal on the Jhenaidah-Dhaka Highway on March 26, 2019, marking Independence Day,

The monument featured an abstract bust of Bir Sreshtha Hamidur Rahman, the wartime national flag of Bangladesh, and a sculpture of a clenched fist symbolising the Liberation War.

After August 2024, it was vandalised twice by student protesters and remained in a damaged condition thereafter.