High Court orders protection of central Shaheed Minar

In the light of the previous verdict of the court, the High Court has directed to protect the dignity of the central Shaheed Minar. At the same time, the court directed the defendants to submit a report within four weeks regarding the steps taken to implement the verdict.

The court also fixed 25 April for the next order of the case.

The High Court bench comprising Justice Naima Haider and Justice Rajik Al Jalil passed the order on Sunday. Advocate Manzil Morshed stood for the application before the court.

The Cabinet Secretary, Secretary for Freedom Fighters and Cultural Affairs, Vice-Chancellor of Dhaka University, Mayors of Dhaka's two city corporations and other concerned officials have been asked to inform the authority about the implementation of the High Court's order.

Earlier, on 25 August 2010, in response to a writ petition filed by Human Rights and Peace for Bangladesh (HRPB), the High Court issued a few directions.

The directions included – regular monitoring of the Shaheed Minar area to prevent anti-social activities, refraining from organizing meeting at the main altar, establishing a museum with a library next to the Shaheed Minar and keeping a brochure on language movement so that tourists can know the history of the martyrs, among others.

However, as the verdict was not fully implemented, the plaintiff Human Rights and Peace for Bangladesh (HRPB) filed a petition in the High Court on 4 March alleging contempt of court against the defendants.

Lawyer Manzil Morshed later said, "Even though 10 years have elapsed since the previous verdict was handed down, we have had to resort to the court more than once for its implementation."

"Some of the HC directions were met but the establishment of a museum and compiling an actual list of the language soldiers are yet to be completed. Therefore, the court directed the defendants to submit their action in the form of evidence," he added.