Fate of Themis hangs in limbo

The Lady Justice Themis --- a name that has been rarely heard of in public domain in Bangladesh is widely discussed and debated over these days following her blind-folded eyes in a life-size sculpture with a pair of scales in hand commissioned in the premises of Bangladesh Supreme Court as a symbol of justice.

A daughter of Uranus (God of Heaven) and Gaea (goddess of earth), in Greek mythology, Themis is known as the personification of justice, goodness of wisdom and good counsel. In Homer she signifies the order of law and justice. On Olympus--- the pantheon of mythological gods and goddesses, Themis maintains order and supervises the ceremonial. She was a giver of oracles and one legend relates that she once owned the oracle at Delphi. The cult of Themis was widespread in Greece. She was often represented as a woman of sober appearance carrying a pair of scales in hand as symbol of justice.

As long as Themis was in Olympus and doing her duties as stated above, no controversy so far arose centering on her. Humans brought her down the elusive Olympus Mountain to the earth of dust and, in adulation, put her statues in different important place of the civilized world where rules of law and justice uninterruptedly prevails. No one has ever questioned for her statues being installed as symbol of justice in the rest of the civilized world so far. Pandemonium erupted only when a sculpture of Themis featuring a Saree-clad conventional Bengali lady has been installed in the premises of Bangladesh Supreme Court as symbol of justice.

Bangladesh being a member of global village of the contemporary civilized world pursuing democracy and secularism, installation of Themis or Lady Justice's sculpture at the right place is not obviously a wrong move or misdeed. But in the eye of a small segment of Islamist fanatics preaching religious demagoguery, bigotry and misogyny; installation of a life-size sculpture of the Lady Justice in the public place is a forbidden act directly or indirectly tantamount to idolatry.

Sculpture in general or of Lady Justice in particular is the manifestation of visual art work and is nothing to do with idolatry. Idolatry literally means the worship of an idol, also known as cult image, in the form of physical image, such as statue. A statue or an idol when it is worshiped by humans is regarded as idolatry.

Then how can appreciation of visual art work of beauty and aesthetic value in the form of a sculpture be categorized and painted as being a forbidden act of idolatry? Appreciation of the aesthetic elements of a beautifully curved sculpture and idolatry falls apart in two different poles diametrically opposed to each other.

Hundreds and thousands of art works of sculptures have suitably taken place at different important places around the world including the Islamic world still free from Islamist fanaticism and chauvinism that now in rise alarmingly across the world. Some of the famous sculptures and statues that have found places gracefully in the Islamic countries are as follows:

a) Sculpture of architect Mimar Sinan in front of Selim Mosque, Edirue, Turkey, b) Treaty of Lausanne Monument in Anatolia, Turkey, c) Statue of Iranian poet Afzal Uddin Badil in front of Blue Mosque in Tabriz, Iran, d) Sculpture of Albanian warrior Sikandar Begh in front of Ethem Bey Mosque, Tirana, Albania e) statue of Kamal Pasha on the premises of Aladdin Mosque in Anatolia, Turkey, f) Martyrs Monument in front of Mohammad Al-Amin Mosque, Beirat, Lebanon, g) statues featuring a man and women located close to Burj Al-Khalifa Tower in Dubai, UAE, h) statues adjacent to Amir Chakmaque Mosque in yazd province, Iran, i) sculpture "joy of life" in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia j) sculpture of Ibrahim Pasha at the main entrance of Mohammad Ali Mosque, in Cairo, Egypt (Source: secular values and cultural Heritage, The Asian Age dated May 29, 2017).

If sculptures depicting great art work can find place in the focal points including in front of mosques of the cities of great Islamic world, then how can a single piece of sculpture of the Lady Justice in Bangladesh Supreme Court premises as symbol of justice be branded by the Islamist bigots as an act equal to idolatry and thus as per their demand be removed from the public view thereby doing away the intellectual and creative enlightenment of the nation.

How can a popular government that has so far been claiming it to be democratic and secular, without dealing the nuisance value in heavy hand, heed such arrogance and unjust demand of Islamist bigots like Hefazat-e-Islam who only a couple years back in 2013 indulged in arson, looting, rampage and violence at Motijheel Shapla Chattar towards unseating the present democratically elected government? Who is Hefazat-e-Islam?

A Qwami Madrasa based religious outfit appeared in new face as Hefazat-e-Islam in belligerent mood is none other than a religious outfit, known for ages, belonging to Wahabi Madrasha at Hathazari, Chittagong representing small segment of Muslims pursuing hard-line Wahabi doctrine of Islam against the mainstream Muslims practicing rituals of Sunni Islam based on the spirit and essence of Sufism pursuing the religion of Islam on the basis of peace, fraternity justice, tolerance and communal harmony as was preached and practiced by the Prophet of Islam Hazrat Mohammad (SM) and his disciples.  

It is often claimed that the present Awami League government believing in people's power and its power-base as revolves around the people, who created Bangladesh at the cost of blood of three millions, as democratic and secular country free from religious bigotry and fanaticism based on medieval ideas and thoughts.

The question pertinently arises: how can such a democratic and secular government based on peoples' power lose its faith from the mainstream population and succumb to the pressure and demagoguery of Hefazat-e-Islam and other Islamist factions of microscopic proportions to remove and 'relocate' the Lady Justice from the forefront of the Supreme Court premises at the wee hours of night of 25th/26th May 2017 to the utter shock and dismay of the mainstream population?

Paradoxically, it is claimed by the government ministers that removal of the sculpture, being originally installed at the Supreme Court premises, took place by the decision of the Supreme Court, not by the government! It sounds like a flabbergasting connotation of logical fallacy indeed, reminding us the story of wolf and lamb, rarely comprehended and understood by the people for the obvious reason.

Further, a government Minister has come up with a strange argument that the removal and relocation of the Lady Justice is justifiable as because of the fact that the sculpture in question overshadowed the Bangladesh map inscribed on the face of the Supreme Court building.

If the minister's argument is taken for granted, then again question arises as to where have the minister been when the sculpture was commissioned at that place certainly not overnight in hurry or haste. This could at least help avoiding the controversy that has arisen anew. With all these strange logics of the government's minister, the fate of Lady Justice Themis in Bangladesh has been pushed to hang on limbo.

It is not like shedding crocodiles tears for a single piece of sculpture featuring Lady Justice for being removed from its designated place and other work of sculptures now being alarmingly posed under threat, but genuinely it induces shedding tears of blood for how the four principles and core values of Bangladesh such as democracy, socialism, secularism and nationalism on which it is firmly anchored is being trampled under the jackboot of Islamists bigots vowed to remove all sculptures from the public view towards their taking the democratic and secular Bangladesh to the road to medieval era where ignorance alarmingly wins over wisdom.

If the popular Awami League government thinks that by appeasing and giving free license to Hefezat-e-Islam and other Islamist political outfits, it will be able to inflate its vote bank in 2019 election at the cost of core values of Bangladesh on which Bangladesh rests, then most probably it will be sadly a mistaken thought.

It is not unlikely that progressive minded large and majority segment of population of Bangladesh including intellectuals, academics, writers, artists, journalists, lawyers and others who have put on their unwavering trust on Awami League as progressive and pro-liberation minded political party will sadly turn their face from Awami League.

God forbids, if such thing ever happens, then it will be as dangerous as equivalent to surrendering to religious bigotry and paving a smooth way for fascist dispensation in Bangladesh in the coming days. People of Bangladesh who have earned the country at the cost of blood of 3 million people in 1971, will never let it happen as I reason.

Meanwhile, let the theme song of Lady Justice Themis hangs on limbo till such time good sense prevails in doing away the religious bigotry from our collective psyche and adhering to only true teachings and spirit of religion that promotes peace, fraternity tolerance, equality, social justice and communal harmony and give due emphasize on the light of wisdom overwhelmingly winning over the darkness of ignorance.  


The writer is a former civil servant