Reactions to the removal of Lady Justice statue

Dr Ajoy Roy, retired DU professorRemoval of the sculpture in front of the Supreme Court Premises is an embarrassing incident. The sculpture is a symbol of justice. A weighing scale in one hand means law will protect those who respect justice and law, and on the sword on the other hand means culprits will be punished. Many countries have this sculpture of justice. I really don’t understand how it could happen in the period of a government that says it is on the side of Liberation War and democracy. They do not understand the difference between an idol and a sculpture. Then they should break all sculptures. They are now emboldened enough to demand that the government take down the Shaheed Minar, because we pay tribute to martyrs of the Language Movement with flowers.Dr Shahdeen Malik, SC lawyerRemoval of the statue is certainly a victory for medieval interpretations of the religion. Also, the tacit support of the government clearly indicates a shift in Awami League’s policy to claim a portion of the so-called “Islamic Vote” at any cost. This is a sad day for our democratic values and the spirit of Liberation. This does not augur well for the liberal and progressive development of the country.  Khushi Kabir, activistThey have been making this demand for some time, and the prime minister has also supported this. I had been saying that if we let them remove this one they will demand the removal of others, and that is exactly what has happened. We did not want a Saudi Arabia, we wanted a free Bangladesh. It is not clear to us why this decision was taken. If Supreme Court made this decision, why did the work start at midnight? Our constitution says we are secular. Then how does this happen? I think the sculpture should be immediately placed where it is, and the government should make a statement saying these demands will never again be entertained. Because these sculptures are made with taxpayer money, the government should also be more accountable to the public about their removal or placement.Abdul Matin Khasru, SC lawyerEighty to ninety percent of the lawyers were against this. We did not know that this statue would be here. I thank the honourable Chief Justice, he has decided to remove it by honoring our sentiments. The Greek Themis statue is not in our culture. The statue is beside the Eidgah where people pray and it’s not acceptable. We support the decision to remove it before Ramadan. It is not something related to Hefazat-e-Islam. The prime minister also said that she does not like it. Yesterday, some of our senior lawyers were talking with the Chief Justice. We talked about removing it. The Chief Justice has listened to us. We are grateful.AHM Shamsuddin Choudhury Manik, former SC justiceIt was placed by the sole decision of the Chief Justice and removed in the same way. In a sense, Chief Justice played an autocratic role. According to tradition, the Chief Justice consults with other judges before making such a decision, which is called a full court meeting. He did not have any discussion before installing it. The judges were surprised when the statue was installed. There was a full court meeting yesterday but he did not say that he would remove it in the dark at night. There is much difference between the demand of Hefazat and the prime minister’s statement. She said it is a pertinent, ugly, incomprehensible sculpture. Sword cannot be a symbol of justice in the present age. It was in the medieval era when the kings did injustice in the name of trial and imposed the decision on common people. If he had talked with everyone before installing it then this problem would not have been there.  Obaidul Quader, Awami League general secretaryThe removal of the statue was not within the government’s jurisdiction. The decision of removal was taken by the Supreme Court.    Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir, BNP secretary generalThe Supreme Court installed the lady justice sculpture in the court premises, and then removed the sculpture from its place. This is their own matter, We will not comment on this. We will say one thing, we would like the government to respect the people’s views in the same way on every issue.  Mufty Fayzullah, Islami Oikya Jote secretary generalThis is victory for the nation. At last the government has realised what the majority Muslim population of the country wants. From our party and from Hefazat-e-Islam, we give thank Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina for respecting the nation’s demands.    Junayed Babunagari, Hefazat-e-Islam secretary generalThe removal of the idol is a victory for Islam and the Muslims of Bangladesh. All credit for the removal of the idol goes to those who protested, demonstrated, marched and organised programmes demanding to remove the Greek idol form the Supreme Court premises in the last four months.