Islamist groups continue protests against Lady Justice 'idol'

Hardliner Islamist groups Hefazat-e-Islam and Islami Oikya Jote held a demonstration in front of the Baitul Mukarram National Mosque on Tuesday, pressing their demands for removal of the Lady Justice statue from the Supreme Court premises. In the scheduled programme, for which protesters had obtained permission from Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP), leaders of both Islamist groups stressed that they would not stop their protests until the "idol" was removed. The Lady Justice statue, a likeness of Greek goddess Themis which is a universal symbol of justice, was installed on the Supreme Court premises in December last year. Hefazat, IOJ, and some other radical Islamist groups including Olama League, Bangladesh Khelafat Majlish, Islami Andolon Bangladesh have been protesting against the statue terming it an "idol" and claiming that it was anti-Islamic. They demand that the  government remove the "idol" and replace it a statue depicting the Qur'an. Recently, the Bangladesh members of militant group al-Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent (AQIS) expressed solidarity with the protest.