“A meeting will be held with the chief justice very soon over the statue,” she told a gathering of Qawmi madrasa representatives on Tuesday evening with Hifazat-e Islam chief Shah Ahmad Shafi by her side.

Hardliners say the figure, a variation on the Greek goddess Themis but in a sari, goes against Islam.

According to them, the statue erected in December 2016, holding the familiar sword and scales of justice in her hands, amounts to idolatry.

“I don’t like it myself. It’s being called a Greek statue, but how will a Greek statue get here?” Hasina said.

“The Greeks had a certain kind of attire. But there is a sari on this one. That too is ridiculous.”

“I will sit with the chief justice very soon. Have patience, and don’t create a situation about the issue,” the prime minister said. “Have some faith in me; I will do whatever is necessary about the matter.”

Though the prime minister agreed with the Hifazat on the statue, some leaders of her Awami League party had been criticising the radical group for some ‘unreasonable’ demands.

Cultural Affairs Minister Asaduzzaman Noor said, “The way Hifazat is making their demands, it looks like Bangladesh is not a people’s republic, rather it's an Islamic republic.”

Fariduddin Masud said at the Ganabhaban programme that “today the Islamic scholars expressed their solidarity with the pro-liberation forces in the country. This will bring prosperity for the country.”

The moderator of the programme termed ‘Hasina the guardian of the state and Shafi the spiritual head of the state’.

Shafi led a prayer at the end of the programme.