Govt won't dispatch artefacts to Paris
Wednesday, 26 December 2007
In the wake of strong debates over the theft of two rare terracotta statues of Hindu god Vishnu, the government Tuesday decided not to dispatch artefacts to Paris Guimet Museum, reports UNB.
A special meeting, chaired by Chief Adviser Fakhruddin Ahmed at his office, took the decision after thoroughly reviewing the situation involving the dispatch of the artefacts to France.
An official announcement said due to an unfortunate incident of theft of two artefacts from Zia International Airport (ZIA) early Saturday and because of complexity and taking into consideration the public sentiment that arose due to this incident the remaining artefacts would not be dispatched at this time.
The meeting decided that the Guimet Museum would be informed regretfully that it would not be possible to "go ahead with holding the exhibition of the items as planned".
In response to an invitation from Guimet Museum, the Bangladesh government had accepted the offer to showcase its rich cultural heritage in Paris in keeping with the usual practice of countries doing such displays.
Earlier, 42 artefacts in 10 boxes were sent to Paris Guimet Museum for the exhibition. The second consignment of 147 artefacts was being sent after the Supreme Court cleared the legal roadblocks.
Saturday last, 13 crates containing 147 artefacts were handed over to Air France authorities after completing customs formalities.
Police said soon after the crates were loaded in the aircraft, it was found that one crate containing two statues were missing. The missing crate was later found empty in a ditch near the runway of the airport.
Police have so far arrested 15 civil aviation and Biman employees for interrogation in connection with the theft. They were produced before the Chief Metropolitan Magistrate court Tuesday and brought them on a 5-day police remand for interrogation.
Press Attaché of the French Embassy Shakhawat Hossain told UNB that the embassy is likely to hold a press conference Thursday to explain the French government position on the Bangladesh government decision.
bdnews24.com adds: Of the arrestees, three were officials of Air France's Dhaka office and seven were cargo loaders.
Airport police sub-inspector Monu Shoheb Imtiaz, investigating officer of the case, sought 10 days to quiz the arrestees, but the court approved only five days.
The first information report did not mention the names of the accused. The 15 people were arrested on suspicion of their involvement in the incident and sent to court.
A special meeting, chaired by Chief Adviser Fakhruddin Ahmed at his office, took the decision after thoroughly reviewing the situation involving the dispatch of the artefacts to France.
An official announcement said due to an unfortunate incident of theft of two artefacts from Zia International Airport (ZIA) early Saturday and because of complexity and taking into consideration the public sentiment that arose due to this incident the remaining artefacts would not be dispatched at this time.
The meeting decided that the Guimet Museum would be informed regretfully that it would not be possible to "go ahead with holding the exhibition of the items as planned".
In response to an invitation from Guimet Museum, the Bangladesh government had accepted the offer to showcase its rich cultural heritage in Paris in keeping with the usual practice of countries doing such displays.
Earlier, 42 artefacts in 10 boxes were sent to Paris Guimet Museum for the exhibition. The second consignment of 147 artefacts was being sent after the Supreme Court cleared the legal roadblocks.
Saturday last, 13 crates containing 147 artefacts were handed over to Air France authorities after completing customs formalities.
Police said soon after the crates were loaded in the aircraft, it was found that one crate containing two statues were missing. The missing crate was later found empty in a ditch near the runway of the airport.
Police have so far arrested 15 civil aviation and Biman employees for interrogation in connection with the theft. They were produced before the Chief Metropolitan Magistrate court Tuesday and brought them on a 5-day police remand for interrogation.
Press Attaché of the French Embassy Shakhawat Hossain told UNB that the embassy is likely to hold a press conference Thursday to explain the French government position on the Bangladesh government decision.
bdnews24.com adds: Of the arrestees, three were officials of Air France's Dhaka office and seven were cargo loaders.
Airport police sub-inspector Monu Shoheb Imtiaz, investigating officer of the case, sought 10 days to quiz the arrestees, but the court approved only five days.
The first information report did not mention the names of the accused. The 15 people were arrested on suspicion of their involvement in the incident and sent to court.