No decision to replace surrender mural with fountain: Minister

There has been no decision to remove the mural depicting the surrender of Pakistani forces at Suhrawardy Udyan and build a fountain in its place, Liberation War Affairs Minister Ahmed Azam Khan said on Wednesday (September 30).

He made the remarks while responding to questions from journalists after a courtesy meeting with Indian High Commissioner to Bangladesh Dinesh Trivedi at the Ministry of Liberation War Affairs.

The minister dismissed reports that the mural marking the December 16, 1971 surrender would be removed to make way for a fountain, saying no such decision or discussion had taken place.

“We want to make it clear that the reports about removing the mural of the surrender of Pakistani forces and building a fountain are not correct,” Ahmed Azam Khan said.

He said the government was instead reviewing how to complete the Independence Monument at Suhrawardy Udyan in line with the spirit of the project and the government’s election manifesto.

“There has been no discussion so far about removing the mural and constructing a fountain there,” he said, adding that there had been discussions during the previous interim administration about possible changes at the site, but the government was not pursuing that matter.

Recent media reports, citing a Ministry of Liberation War Affairs progress report, said the ongoing Independence Monument project had proposed replacing planned sculptures at sites associated with the March 7 speech and the surrender of Pakistani forces with water fountains.

The ministry documents also reportedly proposed changes to the project’s design.

The minister said the government would focus on completing the Independence Monument while preserving the core spirit of the project.