Information Minister Dr. Hasan Mahmud urged all to avoid misleading and provocative speeches in their attempt to create confusion centering on sculptures and idols.
Some are linking the sculpture of Bangabandhu to an idol. But they are not talking about Ziaur Rahman’s sculpture, he said, replying to a query of a newsman at the meeting room of his ministry at Secretariat on Monday (November 30).
The minister said there are many sculptures in the country which were constructed many years ago like other countries across the globe. But, none raised questions about those. Now, they are trying to mislead the people by raising questions about it. And, we are saying from the beginning that there is a difference between sculpture and statue, he added.
Hasan said a motivated group is trying to create confusion in the society drawing a comparison between sculpture and idol. There are sculptures in the whole world, even in the Islamic countries; he said adding that in Iran where Islamic government was established through Islamic revolution has the sculpture of Ayatollah Khomeini.
There are a number of sculptures on streets in Iraq also, said Hasan, also Awami League joint general secretary.
In Turkey, where the rightist Islamic party is in power, has also sculpture of President Erdogan. There are also many sculptures in other Islamic countries and in Middle East countries, he said, adding that there are also sculptures with pictures of administrators on roads. Citing the example of Saudi Arabia, the information minister said, there are sculptures of horses, camels and even Saudi rulers in various cities, including Jeddah and in Mecca Sharif and Masjide Nwababi in Saudi Arabia. Besides, there is a sculpture museum in Jeddah named Al-Hamra. There are many sculptures of men, women and animals, he added.
In Iran, there are sculptures of poet Ferdousi, Sheikh Sadi and Hazarat Jalal Uddin Rumi, he said, adding that even, there are sculptures in front of mosques.
He said sculpture is a part of culture, heritage and the history of a country. None raised questions about this even in Saudi Arabia, he added. The history of those, who are now speaking against sculptures, says their ancestors either fought for Pakistan in 1971 or sided with Pakistan, said Hasan. He said there are also sculptures of Muhammad Ali Jinnah, poet Iqbal, Liaquat Ali Khan and many others in Pakistan. None raises questions there also, he added.
The minister said the official language of the subcontinent was Persian and Urdu was the language of army after the battle of Plassey and before capturing power by the English. They started English language at the beginning of their rule and the official language was English, he added. At that time many people like those who are now talking about sculpture, were against English education and declared fatwoa as haram and many Muslims didn’t take lesson of English for many years. For this, the Muslims of the subcontinent lagged behind in services, he added.
Even, he said, when people went to moon, then many gave fotwoa that it would be haram to believe people go to moon. When television was introduced, many people said that it was haram to watch TV, he said. Now those, who said all these, are speaking on television and they are happy when they are on television. Those people also give posts on social media also, he added.
The information minister hoped that the persons, who tried to create confusion in the society, will avoid spreading such speeches. The countrymen would not tolerate it and they have already talked against those, he added. The government will not sit idle if such provocative statements continue to be made, he added. There is no room for fundamentalism and militancy in Bangladesh, he added.
Replying to another query over online news portals registrations, Hasan said the registrations is a continuous process and there is no reason for worry.