An effigy stated to resemble ousted Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and titled “Face of Fascism” was torched forward of a celebratory march in Dhaka, authorities stated on Saturday (April 12, 2025).
The cane-and-paper effigy was a part of preparations being made at Dhaka University for Pohela Boishakh, a day symbolically thought of as the beginning of the 12 months by the Bengali group, on Monday.
The effigy portrayed a lady with a toothy grin, 4 horns on her head and a big nostril, with many on social media believing it resembled Hasina.
Mohammed Azharul Islam Sheikh, dean of the college’s wonderful arts school, stated it was set on hearth by “unidentified persons” early on Saturday. A criticism was raised with police and an investigation shall be undertaken, he stated.
However, Bangladesh cultural affairs adviser Mostofa Sarwar Faruqui accused “friends of Hasina” of setting hearth to it.
“Those who have shown such reckless audacity… will be brought to justice,” he wrote on his Facebook web page.
Another construction on the positioning, a dove representing peace, was additionally broken within the hearth. Fire service and civil defence spokesperson Shahjahan Sikder instructed reporters that the reason for the hearth was unknown.
The annual march has been organised by Dhaka University’s wonderful arts division since 1989 and was declared an “Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity” by UNESCO in 2016.
Hasina is needed on prices of crimes in opposition to humanity for the killing of a whole bunch of protesters throughout the unrest that toppled her authorities final August.
She has defied extradition requests from Bangladesh after she fled to previous ally India as crowds stormed her palace.
Published – April 12, 2025 09:26 pm IST
