An unidentified youth set fire to two motifs crafted for the upcoming Bengali New Year鈥檚 Barshabaran Ananda Shobhajatra at the Faculty of Fine Arts of Dhaka University early Saturday.
Officials said that one of the burnt motifs resembling the face of deposed prime minister Sheikh Hasina symbolised the face of fascism and the other motif of a dove was meant for peace.
Bangladesh is going to celebrate the Bengali New Year, or Pahela Baishakh, tomorrow, and the Faculty of Fine Arts of Dhaka University will bring out a procession named Barshabaran Ananda Shobhajatra carrying different motifs.
The officials of Dhaka Metropolitan Police and its detective branch said that a youth wearing a black T-shirt and using a face mask entered the Faculty of Fine Arts by scaling the wall through the gate near Zainul Gallery at about 4:45am on Saturday.
The youth set fire to the motifs using a gas lighter and flammable chemical and left the area within two minutes, they said.
Dhaka Metropolitan Police鈥檚 Ramna Division deputy commissioner Masud Alam said that they were trying to find out the identity of the youth who set fire to the motifs.
鈥極ur teams are working to arrest him,鈥� he said.
DMP Ramna Zone officials said that two constables were given overnight duty near the Zainul Gallery but they were not present during the incident.
Asked about the negligence in discharging duties by the two police constables, Shahbagh police station officer-in-charge said that he could not say anything about the matter as the matter was now under investigation.
He said that Dhaka University authorities filed a case with his police station on Saturday.
Dhaka University faculty of fine arts dean Md Azharul Islam Sheikh said that they would portray the damaged motifs in a different manner in the Shobhajatra.
鈥楽ecurity on the campus has been tightened. We along with the administration are trying to find out the accused. I urge all to attend the Shobhajatra,鈥� the dean added.
Dhaka University authorities have renamed the traditional Mangal Shobhajatra as Barshabaran Ananda Shobhajatra for the Bengali New Year 1432. The incident of renaming the Shobhajatra has set off controversies.
The Institute of Fine Art of DU first organised the Bengali New Year procession in 1989 as 鈥楢nanda Shobhajatra鈥�.
The next year, the name of the Bengali New Year procession was changed to 鈥楳angal Shobhajatra鈥� and the institute, which became a faculty of the university in 2008, has been organising the procession as Mangal Shobhajatra since 1990.
DU administration on Saturday afternoon formed a five-member committee led by arts faculty dean Professor Siddiqur Rahman Khan to probe the incident, according to a DU press release.
Two members of the DU proctorial team who were scheduled to present on the spot went to say prayers at the university mosque at about 4:00am, about 45 minutes before the incident, according to DU fine arts teachers.
DU Faculty of Fine Arts assistant proctor Md Israfil Prang said that the two members told the university authorities that they went for prayers after informing police members.
鈥楾here was no security guard at the place as they were on duty at the gates. We can find out all the reasons after getting the probe committee report,鈥� Israfil shared.
Cultural affairs adviser Mostofa Sarwar Farooki said on Saturday that the collaborators of the fascism had burned the 鈥榤otif of a fascist鈥� challenging the July revolution, New Staff Correspondent in Sylhet reported.聽
鈥楾hose who do not want the 鈥榤otif of a fascist鈥� to remain did the job. They will be brought to book soon,鈥� he claimed at an impromptu press briefing held at Sylhet Circuit House in the afternoon.
