Editorial
Demolition culture bodes ill for the nation
When will we come out of it?
THE removal of the late president Zia's murals from the Bangabandhu National Stadium has raised a few questions in the public mind regarding the rationale behind such acts, which always appear to be high on the agenda of any new government. The murals were demolished at night and it looked like a special assignment carried out by the sports administration in an air of secrecy or at least not having due transparency as these were brought down.
It is not clear, though, why in the first place the murals of Ziaur Rahman were placed at a stadium named after Bangabandhu. And why were they removed once being placed? Are not the decision makers showing lack of maturity in handling matters that can have profound sentimental implications?
Now, the first question is, why this juxtaposition of the two leaders in every display of public memorialisation? Doesn't it denigrate the image of both the leaders? Is it indispensable that one leader will have to occupy a place along side the other all the time and on every occasion?
That said, the serial demolition drive by every new government to erase the names of the past governments' revered figures is at best nothing but a reflection of low national self-esteem. At worst, it is a manifestation of the desire to obliterate everything belonging to the political rivals. The culture of naming, renaming and de-naming has to come to an end, once and for all, and the leaders, regardless of party affiliations and ideology, must be placed on the pedestal of honour that they deserve. A leader's position in history cannot change with the change of government, unless we are ready to be branded as a morally and politically bankrupt nation.
The removal of the murals is illustrative of how the political parties refuse to give each other any space whatsoever. It seems they are engaged in an endless struggle for imprinting their own ideas on the nation's collective psyche, often in violation of all norms of decency. They are trying to prevail over their adversaries through means far from civil. Neither side has ever deemed it necessary to weigh the consequences of applying force in such matters and how our values and beliefs are also getting demolished with the structures and portraits that they dislike so intensely.
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