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Swadhinata Stambha murals to be modified

SULTANA RAHMAN
***Murals on Bangab-andhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman would be modified and new murals will be added to include late president and the founder of BNP Ziaur Rahman. The work on the Swad-hinata Stambha was suspended for three years after 60 percent of construction had been finished***
The expert committee on the Swadhinata Stambha at Suhrawardy Uddyan is reportedly thinking of modifying some murals which apparently go against the ruling party's political ideology.
"The final decision will come after the next meeting of the committee which is scheduled to be held on March 25," said a member of the expert committee. He also said that the Ministry of Liberation War Affairs has asked them to examine each and every mural thoroughly.
Headed by MR Osmani (former foreign secretary) the committee includes directors of the Institute of Fine Arts, National Museum, joint secretary of the ministry of Liberation War and two professors from BUET.
The murals were built at a cost of 1.75 crore Taka and were designed to project the chronological history of the Liberation War by depicting the struggle for freedom from 1948 to 1971.
Sources said the murals on Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman would be modified and new murals will be added to include late president and the founder of BNP Ziaur Rahman.
"A mural on the declaration of the Liberation War by Ziaur Rahman will be placed at the Swadhinata Stambha," an expert committee member said.
Project director of the Swadhinata Stambha Rezaul Karim however said that they were still not sure what type of murals were already there as all the murals have not been unwrapped.
Work remained suspended for three years on the Swadhinata Stambha after 60 percent of construction had been finished. The present government after some revisions, revived the project at the end of last year curtailing the cost to Tk 76 crore. The com-pletion deadline is June 2006.
Construction originally began at the project site at Suhrawardy Uddyan in July 1998 at a cost of Tk 81.27 crore under the then Awami League government. Later, the total project cost was raised to Tk 171 crore. The coalition gov-
ernment after taking office, halted construction in 2001 for irregularities and filed a case.
"Halting the construction work was a political decision as the project was taken by the Awami League government," a source said.
The revised project includes construction of an underground museum, a 100 feet tower, Shikha Chirantan, an open theatre, a fountain, waterbody and a wall named Janata Wall.