B'desh unrest: Attackers destroy statue and photos of India’s iconic personalities, IGCC

Agartala/Shillong, Aug 7 : Amid the continuing chaos and countrywide violence, attackers did not spare the statue and photographs of iconic personalities of India besides the Indira Gandhi Cultural Centre (IGCC) in Dhaka, according to reports.

According to media reports and videos circulated on social media, the attackers tore down a life-size photo of Tripura’s erstwhile king Bir Bikram Kishore Manikya Bahadur in Comilla and vandalised the statue of U. Tirot Sing, a freedom fighter from Meghalaya’s Khasi Hills, in Dhaka, leading to widespread condemnation from several quarters in the northeastern states.

His statue was put up in Dhaka many years ago.

The attackers, according to the videos, burnt down and destroyed a large portion of the IGCC, inaugurated in March 2010 to promote bilateral cultural ties between India and Bangladesh by organising seminars, workshops and various cultural events.

Run by the Indian Council for Cultural Relations, the IGCC had a library with over 21,000 books.

Writer and political commentator Tapas Dey said that there were many memorials and assets, some of which existed in Bangladesh’s Comilla, Brahmanbaria and Sylhet but over the years these were either destroyed or encroached.

“I have learnt in the recent violence the remaining memorials, assets and proof, which showcased princely Tripura’s existence in Bangladesh, were destroyed by the attackers. Full details are not yet available to us at the moment,” Dey, who is very close to Tripura’s erstwhile royal family, told IANS.

Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma, many people, the BJP, the National People’s Party (NPP), which dominates the Meghalaya Democratic Alliance government, separately condemned the destruction of the statue of the Meghalaya braveheart.

In view of the recent developments in Bangladesh, the future of many vital projects associated with the northeastern states has become uncertain.

(Sujit Chakraborty can be contacted atsujit.c@ians.in)