Shilpakala play halted midway due to arson threats

The Director General of Shilpakala Academy Syed Jamil Ahmed was forced to halt a play midway due to arson threats from a group of protesters.

The incident took place at the National Theatre of Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy on Saturday (November 2) evening during the stage performance of 'Nittapuran' drama by Desh Natak team.


According to the audience, several agitated people tried to enter the National Theater by breaking open the gates.

When Syed Jamil Ahmed told them to calm down, the protestors at Shilpakala gates hung banners to stop the play.

At one stage of agutation, they demanded to hand over Ehsanul Ejaz Babu, leader of Desh Natak. The protestors claimed that Ehsanul Ejaz had posted 'sarcastic' status about the current government on Facebook.

Masum Reza, the writer and director of the play, told the media that some 20-22 protestors came and hung banners during the sale of tickets for the play. Later the Director General came and calmed down the situation. But when the show started, the protestors again started ruckusing and Syed Jamil Ahmed stopped the play in the face of their demands.

Shilpakala Academy Director General Syed Jamil Ahmed told the media that several agitated people tried to enter the National Theater by breaking the gate. They demanded that the play be stopped.

He said: "I tried a lot to convince them. But later I decided to stop the play in fear of arson attack."