DHAKA: Mayor of a city in Bangladesh who refused to permit a mural depicting Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s father on religious grounds was arrested on Wednesday, police said.

Sheikh Mujibur Rahman was Bangladesh’s first leader and since his daughter took power in 2009, authorities have erected more than 1,000 murals and monuments to venerate him. Scores of people have been charged for defaming him under the country’s notorious internet laws, which rights groups say have been used by Hasina to silence dissent.

Abbas Ali, the mayor of western Rajshahi city, found himself in the spotlight last month after an audio clip of his comments against a proposed Mujib mural went viral. “This is not correct according to Islamic Sharia,” he had said. “That’s why I won’t keep it. I will build everything as it’s planned, except for this last part.”

Islamic traditions forbid depictions of people in murals or statues. His comments triggered protests in his hometown. The mayor initially claimed the clip was fake, but later apologised on Facebook and fled town.

Police arrested Ali from a hotel in the capital Dhaka on Wednesday, spokesman Khandaker Al Moin said.

“He admitted he made the comment. He was absconding in different hotels in Dhaka since November 23. We had information that he’s planning to flee the country,” he added.

The case follows last month’s sacking by Hasina of Zahagir Alam, the mayor of the industrial city of Gazipur, after he allegedly defamed Mujib.

Both Alam and Ali are members of Hasina’s ruling Awami League party. Mujib led his country to independence in 1971 after a horrific nine-month war. He was assassinated four years later along with most of his family members.

Under his daughter Hasina, 74, activists say the human rights situation in Bangladesh has deteriorated sharply, with clampdowns on free expression that have seen hundreds of journalists and activists arrested.

Hasina’s main political opposition has been crippled with its chief and her arch-rival Khaleda Zia jailed for corruption.

Published in Dawn, December 2nd, 2021