Bangladesh Muktijoddha Mancha Kushtia has distorted the picture of BNP founder Ziaur Rahman next to the portrait of Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman at the Liberation War memorial at Bheramara Upazila Parishad premises in Kushtia.
The cross mark was painted on the picture with black ink last Sunday afternoon. They also demanded that the picture be removed. Leaders and activists of Bangladesh Muktijoddha Mancha Kushtia staged a human chain in front of Bangabandhu Market at 11am on Monday. Arifuzzaman Khan, general secretary of the district branch of the organization, said, “Hon’ble Prime Minister has said that Zia, the murderer, was directly and indirectly involved in the assassination of Bangabandhu. I saw in a newspaper that there is a picture of Zia next to Bangabandhu’s picture in the memorial of liberation war in Bheramara. There can be no picture of a murderer beside Bangabandhu. We (Muktijoddha Mancha) put black ink cross mark on the picture in protest. I demand to remove Zia’s picture from the side of Bangabandhu’s portrait. ‘Bheramara Upazila BNP and its affiliates staged a protest and human chain on Monday in protest of the incident. District BNP joint general secretary Touhidul Islam Alam, a resident of Bheramara town in Manabbandhan, said untrue and false news had been spread in a local newspaper in the name of martyred President Ziaur Rahman. After that, the picture of Shaheed Zia has been distorted in the Liberation War Memorial at Bheramara Upazila Parishad premises. He demanded that those involved in distorting the image be brought under the law. District Chhatra Dal staged a protest on NS Road in Kushtia district town yesterday to protest the distortion of Ziaur Rahman’s picture. The construction of the Liberation War Memorial was started in the premises of Bheramara Upazila Parishad in the financial year 2004-05 with the financial support of the District Parishads. Construction was completed in 2005.
Shahidul Islam, the then BNP MP from Kushtia-2 constituency, told Prothom Alo, “This incident has taken place due to complete political inferiority. I made this monument myself. I talked about making a mural of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. If I had wanted, I could not have kept the mural of Bangabandhu, but I did not show my inferiority. It is not clear why this happened after so many days. The real Awami League will not support it.
