‘My family is in fear, artistic persona also suffered a hit’

Sculptor Manabendra Ghosh, a prominent alumnus of the Faculty of Fine Arts at Dhaka University, expressed concerns over the safety of his family and the pursuit of art freely in future.

“The loss that I have faced is huge. My family is also in fear, and my artistic persona has also suffered a hit as well. I don’t know whether I could practice arts freely in future,” he said.

Manabendra Ghosh expressed his fear after miscreants set fire to his house at Chandair Ghosher Bazar in Manikganj Sadar upazila early Tuesday (17 April).

He told Prothom Alo that miscreants had been threatening him on social media since the day before Pahela Baishakh. He was threatened for allegedly making various sculptures, including the “Face of a fascist” that many find resembled former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, for the Barshabaran Ananda Shobhajatra on the occasion of Pahela Baishakh, the first day of Bangla New Year.

However, he did not make Hasina’s face, rather made a tiger motif.

Manabendra passed secondary from Garpara ML High School in 1999 and higher secondary from Government Debendra College, Manikganj and then enrolled at the Fine Arts faculty in 2004.

He has been making motifs for the Pahela Baishakh processions since he was a third-semester student at the Fine Arts faculty. Besides, he also built various sculptures, painted arts and created motifs of various people and animals.

He taught part-time at Khulna University for a while after he completed study at the Fine Arts. He has been involved with all departments of the Fine Arts, but his main job is creation of sculptures. Various people and organisations had their motifs built by Manabendra.

His family members include his wife, mother, uncle and aunt. They live in Chandair. Manabendra lives with his wife in Dhaka, but he does not live in the capital city permanently.

Seven members of his family including Manabendra and his wife were at the home on the day of arson attack.

Miscreants also set fire to the room where Manabendra preserved the collection of his creations. The fire burnt almost all the artworks, and water used for dousing the fire also destroyed several brass artworks.

“This house has lots of memories. There were more than 50 sculptures that I made. I decorated the house with artworks that were even from my student life. Various sculptures and artworks were put on display at the house after different exhibitions,” he lamented.

At first, Manabendra was not worried over threats that he had been receiving on social media, but he became worried later. He registered a general diary (GD) with the Manikganj’s Sadar police station for his safety and the family’s, but his house was torched on that night. Since then, he and his family have been concerned and passing an uneasy time.

Prothom Alo spoke to Ranjan Ghosh, a school friend and neighbour of Manabendra. He said Manabendra has been creative since his childhood. A clam and polite, Manabendra has been immersed in sculptors and portraits whether he is in Dhaka or at home. Everyone from the village has a good relation with Manabendra. Now he and his family are in a sort of worries.

A case was filed with Manikganj ‘s Sadar police station over the arson at Manabendra’s house. Eight people, including six involved with Awami League, were arrested and they are behind bars.

Manabendra said, “No innocent people must be punished. Authorities will try to find out those who carried out the arson through proper investigation. As an artist, I can harbour no party or opinion. I am an independent person and artist. So, no political or religious colour must be labelled on this incident.”