According to authorities, a Bangladesh mayor has been arrested for refusing to allow a painting depicting Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s father on religious grounds.
Sheikh Mujibur Rahman was Bangladesh’s first independent leader, and officials have erected over 1,000 paintings and monuments commemorating him since his daughter gained office in 2009.
Hundreds of people have also been charged with defamation of character under Bangladesh’s harsh internet rules, which rights groups claim Hasina has used to muzzle opposition.
Last month, Abbas Ali, the mayor of western Rajshahi, was thrust into the limelight after an audio tape of his remarks opposing 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.”
As part of the religion’s anti-idolatry rules, doctrinal traditions forbid portrayals of individuals in murals or monuments.
Protests erupted in the mayor’s hometown as a result of his remarks. He claimed the video was phoney at first, but then apologised on Facebook and left town.
Ali was apprehended by police on Wednesday at a hotel in the capital, Dhaka, according to spokesman Khandaker Al Moin.
“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 Hasina’s dismissal of Zahagir Alam, the mayor of Gazipur’s industrial city, last month for allegedly defaming Rahman.
Hasina’s ruling Awami League party had Alam and Ali as members.
Mujib led Bangladesh to independence from Pakistan in 1971, following a nine-month war that Bangladesh claims killed three million people and displaced millions more.
Four years later, he and the majority of his family were assassinated.
Activists claim the human rights situation in Bangladesh has deteriorated significantly under his daughter, Hasina, 74, with crackdowns on free expression that have resulted in the detention of hundreds of journalists and activists.
Hasina’s primary political opponent, Khaleda Zia, has been imprisoned for corruption, and she is Hasina’s archrival.
