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# Facing Protests from Islamist Groups, Bangladesh Relocates a Statue of Lady Justice
- URL: https://hyperallergic.com/facing-protests-from-islamist-groups-bangladesh-relocates-a-statue-of-lady-justice/
- Published: 2017-05-30T21:42:57.000Z
- Updated: 2025-11-24T16:41:09.000Z
- Description: A statue of Lady Justice in front of the Supreme Court in Bangladesh was removed last Friday and reinstalled two days later in a different spot, where no one can see it from the street.
- Author: Claire Voon
- Tags: News, Bangladesh, #wp, #wp-post, #image-position-hidden, #Import 2025-11-24 07:23 (2016, 2017, part 2)

A statue of Lady Justice in Bangladesh is at the center of debate over the country’s commitment towards secularism in the face of pressures from prominent Islamist groups. Commissioned by the Supreme Court in Dhaka, the stainless-steel figure by Bangladeshi artist Mrinal Haque had stood outside the government building for five months before authorities removed it last Friday, as Bangladesh News 24 [reported](http://bdnews24.com/bangladesh/2017/05/26/lady-justice-statue-is-being-removed-from-supreme-court-premises?ref=hyperallergic.com). The move foreboded increased censorship of public art for religious reasons: the decision was a concession to demands by members of Islamist organizations including [Hefazat-e-Islam](https://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/jul/30/bangladesh-hefazat-e-islam-shah-ahmad-shafi?ref=hyperallergic.com) and [Olama League](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bangladesh%5FAwami%5FOlama%5FLeague?ref=hyperallergic.com), who argued that artworks representing humans amount to idolatry. Critics believe the figure represents the Greek goddess Themis wearing a sari — an interpretation Haque has denied.

Lady Justice, however, emerged to the public just two days later — but at a spot 300 yards away from the building, where no one can see it from the street, [according](https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/28/world/asia/bangladesh-statue-of-a-blindfolded-woman-supreme-court.html?ref=hyperallergic.com) to the *New York Times*. Officials reversed their decision following protests led by left-leaning student groups, who were met with police armed with tear gas and water cannons when they demonstrated on Friday. Leaders of Hefazat, motivated by the initial victory, also issued a chilling call for publicly displayed representational statues across the country to also be removed or destroyed.

Many, though, view the statue’s return as a weak compromise on the government’s part to appease protestors while still yielding somewhat to the demands of religious hardliners. Bangladesh, as declared in its constitution, is a secular democracy, but incidents like this reveal religious fundamentalists’ increasing influence on its policies.

“I am still disappointed,” Haque told the *Times*. “People won’t be able to see it. I am also worried because the fundamentalists are still protesting against the sculpture’s relocation.”

The sculpture is only one of many works Haque has created for Dhaka at the behest of the Bangladesh government. Previously, he has contributed mosaics and murals to the city’s international airport in addition to sculptures for civic buildings, museums, and other public spaces, from the [commemorative](https://www.instagram.com/p/-6L%5FKCxwqx/?ref=hyperallergic.com) to the [amusing](https://www.instagram.com/p/hDNTaZNrvj/?ref=hyperallergic.com). Lady Justice, however, represents the first to garner backlash of this nature.