Gandhi's damaged statue finally removed

The damaged statue of Mahatma Gandhi, which had been lying face down for eight months, has finally been removed.

This initiative was taken by the Gandhi Ashram within an hour of the news being published by Views Bangladesh under the headline 'Gandhi's statue lying face down for eight months'.

Visiting the Gandhi Chattar on Thursday afternoon, it was seen that the work of removing the damaged statue by cutting the iron grill under the supervision of the local police was underway.

When contacted, Niranjan Kumar Das, general secretary of the Gandhi Ashram Committee, told Views Bangladesh: "We are removing the statue on behalf of the ashram. We will repair it and keep it with us. I cannot say anything for sure about the next steps now."

In response to the question as to why the sculpture had been lying like this for eight months and why suddenly an initiative is being taken to remove it today, he said: "Actually, it doesn't look good that the sculpture has been lying like this for so long. We couldn't take any initiative earlier because there were no specific instructions in this regard. It was the responsibility of the local administration to take care of it. This afternoon, we received a call from the Indian High Commission in Rajshahi telling us to remove the sculpture and preserve it."

When asked about the restoration of the sculpture, he said: "I can't say for sure right now because I haven't been informed. However, I hope it can be restored within a month or two."

When contacted, Atrai Upazila Nirbahi Officer Md. Kamal Hossain said: "Actually, the responsibility of its care, maintenance or renovation lies with the ashram committee. If they want our help, we can provide it, but we cannot make any decision in this regard."

Asked whether the sculpture will be restored, he said: "The ashram committee will decide that."

The sculpture was inaugurated on October 2, 2021, on the occasion of Mahatma Gandhi's birthday. The late MP from Naogaon-6 (Atrai-Raninagar) Israfil Alam and the Indian High Commissioner jointly took the initiative to build this sculpture in 2020.

The sculpture was demolished by miscreants soon after the fall of the Awami League government on August 5. It remained in that condition until Thursday afternoon, April 3.