No decision to remove Pakistan Army surrender mural: Minister

Liberation War Affairs Minister Ahmed Azam Khan on Wednesday said the government has taken no decision to remove the mural depicting the surrender of Pakistani forces at Suhrawardy Udyan and replace it with a fountain.

“There is no truth at all in reports that the mural depicting the surrender of Pakistani soldiers will be removed and a fountain will be built there,” Ahmed Azam Khan told reporters after a courtesy meeting with Indian High Commissioner to Bangladesh Dinesh Trivedi at the Ministry of Liberation War Affairs.

The minister said the government was instead discussing how to complete the Independence Monument at Suhrawardy Udyan in line with its original spirit.

“We are discussing how the Independence Monument can be completed. We have not discussed removing the mural depicting the surrender of Pakistani forces and building a fountain there,” he said.

He said possible changes to the site had been discussed during the previous interim government, but no such proposal was under consideration by the present government.

“We are thinking about how to implement the original spirit of the Independence Monument in accordance with the government’s election manifesto, and we will work accordingly,” he added.

His remarks came days after bdnews24 reported, citing ministry documents, that the project’s design had been proposed to be revised to install water fountains at the sites originally intended for sculptures commemorating the March 7 speech and the surrender of Pakistani forces in 1971. The ministry documents described the changes as part of a rescoping of the Independence Monument project. Trivedi says Tarique’s India visit will take place Indian High Commissioner Dinesh Trivedi said Prime Minister Tarique Rahman’s proposed visit to India would take place at a mutually convenient time, although no date or month had yet been finalised.

“There has been no discussion about the date. Neither the month nor the date�"nothing has been discussed. But the visit will take place; that is 100% certain. There is no benefit to anyone in rushing. We must ensure that proper preparations are made,” Trivedi told reporters after his meeting with Ahmed Azam Khan. He said India’s invitation to Tarique remained open and stressed that both sides needed adequate time for preparations.

“There are all sorts of problems and challenges. It would be wrong to think there will be no challenges. But when the two leaders sit together, there is no question that cannot be resolved,” he said.

Trivedi said a meeting between Tarique and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi could provide an opportunity to discuss outstanding bilateral issues, including trade, water and other matters of mutual interest.