The ousted Awami League government has misused thousands of crores of money by constructing sculptures, murals, and other decorative structures across the country in the name of celebrating Mujib Borsho.

The current government is investigating the extent of the funds wasted in these celebrations, Chief Adviser’s Press Secretary Shafiqul Alam said on Thursday.

Speaking at a press conference following an advisory council meeting at the Chief Adviser’s Tejgaon office in Dhaka, he said, “On one hand, the Awami League government was begging for loans from the IMF, while on the other hand, it was wasting billions of taka to celebrate Mujib Borsho.”

Money has not been taken only from the public treasury, but also from the private sector, he said, warning that it will be investigated how much money each ministry has spent for this purpose.

Alam said public and private institutions have been forced to set up Mujib Corner at the strategic places of their offices.

In line with the then administration, the country’s all public and private institutions were forced to celebrate Mujib Borsho to pay tribute to Sheikh Mujibur Rahman on the occasion of his birth centenary.

Mujib Year was the year declared to celebrate the centennial birth anniversary of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.

The then government declared the year 2020–21 as the Mujib Year. The year was celebrated from 17 March 2020 to 31 March 2022 (extended by one year, from 17 March 2021 to 31 March 2022).

Sheikh Mujib was born on 17 March 1920, in Bengal Presidency (now in Tungipara village of the Gopalganj district of Bangladesh).

Then Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina attended the concluding ceremony of the birth centenary celebrations of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and the Golden Jubilee of the country’s independence at the South Plaza of the parliament complex in Dhaka on 17 December 2021.

She also enjoyed cultural shows performed by eminent local and foreign artists and musicians, while an expensive illuminating light show made the performance spectacular.