Muslim outfit raises the pitch against Mujib bust

Cites Islamic tenets against idols

The bust of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman

In a watered-down version of his earlier statement,the general secretary of the Minority Youth Federation (MYF) has said the organisation is not against installation of the bust of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the founding leader of Bangladesh, “in any place in the city” except at Baker Hostel, a hostel for minority students.

The general secretary of the influential minority body, Mohammad Quamruzzaman, has also blamed the erstwhile Left Front government for installing the bust of Mujibur Rahman in a Muslim hostel even as it was “against the tenets of Islam to install idols.”

On Saturday, Mr Quamruzzaman insisted again on removing the marble bust, which was described as “unfortunate” by the senior officials of the Bangladesh Deputy High Commission in Kolkata. “We have been paying tributes (at the statue) for such a long time, but suddenly some people started questioning it,” a senior official said.

The Hindu had earlier reported the MYF demand for the removal of the bust of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman from the third floor corridor of Baker Hostel in central Kolkata.

Mr Quamruzzaman reiterated that such idol installation was “un-Islamic.”

The bust of Bangabandhu was unveiled in 2011 to mark Mujibur Rahman’s two year stay in the Baker Hostel in the 1940s, while he was studying in Kolkata.

Mr. Quamruzzaman’s response was criticised by civil society in Kolkata, with politicians of the ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC) saying they would not “succumb” to such a demand.