A statue depicting a goddess of justice has been removed from outside the Supreme Court in Bangladesh's capital, Dhaka, following months of protests by conservative religious groups who had deemed it "un-Islamic". The sculpture, by the local artist Mrinal Haque, was installed in front of the court in December, and depicts a woman in a sari clutching a sword and scales, similar to the traditional depiction of the Greek goddess Themis. The statue is wrapped in a sari, a Bangladeshi revision of the usual representation, the Greek goddess Themis blindfolded and clad in a gown. My mother has died and I can easily compare my present feeling with that loss.”

The removal of the statue grew more likely last month after Bangladesh’s prime minister, Sheikh Hasina, told a gathering of clerics she was unsure why the statue had been installed. “The Greeks had a certain type of costume, but here a statue has been built and it is wearing a sari … I don’t know why such an incident happened.”

The Bangladeshi attorney general, Mahbubey Alam, told the Bangla Tribune the country’s chief justice had ordered that the statue be removed and placed elsewhere. “We also advised him that it would be prudent to remove the statue from in front of the court.”

Around a dozen student activists held a march at Dhaka University on Friday to protest against the statue’s removal, but were blocked by police who laid barbed-wire fences and fired teargas.
Police announce charges of attempted murder against 150 protestors from Dhaka University over a protest to restore a statue of Lady Justice outside the Supreme Court. Protestors and police clashed near the High Court, with police firing tear gas and water cannons after protestors breached a barricade. Police claim protestors wielded sticks and stones in a bid to murder on-duty officers.