On 5 August 2024, the day the Bangladesh Awami League (AL) government fell during the July mass uprising, vandals attacked the Mujibnagar liberation war memorial complex in Meherpur in two phases. They demolished several sculptures, which remain unrepaired to this day.

Among the many sculptures at the memorial centre is one depicting the Guard of Honour given to the country’s first Acting President, Syed Nazrul Islam.

On 17 April 1971, at the oath-taking ceremony of Bangladesh’s first provisional government held in the mango grove at Mujibnagar, 12 Ansar members presented a Guard of Honour to him. The sculpture had captured that historic moment.

A visit to the memorial centre on 13 March revealed that the arm of Syed Nazrul Islam’s sculpture remains broken. The rifles held by the Ansar members have also been smashed. Almost every sculpture bears visible signs of damage.