Protest letter over representation of Lalon Shah at Shilpakala

Appropriate action sought against the management of Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy, alleging that they have represented Lalon Fakir, Nodia's spiritual lineage and sadhu community wrongly.

A protest letter in this regard was handed over to Shilpakala Academy Director General Sheikh Rezauddin Ahmed on behalf of sadhus, gurus, devotees and civil society on Thursday.

Poets Farhad Mazhar, Mohammad Romel, Jasim Uddin, Ahsan Prolay, Mintu Thakur and many others were present at the time.

The protesters said that wrongly representing Lalon Fakir means distorting the ideology of Bengal. Holding a sadhumela without sadhus is insulting for the devotees. Running an anti-Lalon business with public money means violating the cultural rights of the people.

The protest letter mentions that Shilpakala Academy organized ‘Purnima Tithi Sadhumela’ on June 29 and ‘Lalon Philosophy and Lalon Music Training Workshop’ from June 29 to July 5. It says that Fakir Lalon Shah is not just a folk music artist; he is one of the main representatives of Bengali anthropology, body theory, guru theory, Murshidi Sadhana and Nodia's Fakiridhara. Therefore, it is necessary to ensure the participation of representatives of the community, Akhras, Dhams and Guru-Shishya tradition in any state-level event involving Lalon Shah.

The protesters allege that the current event also continues to present Lalon as a ‘Baul brand’. Although the event is called ‘Sadhumela’, there is no proper participation of real Sadhus-gurus and representatives of Nodia's Sadhanadhara. The criteria for selecting trainers are also not clear. They even claim that people who have performed the role of trainers distorted Lalon's tone, expression and singing style.

The protest letter also states that the visuals used in the Shilpakala Academy's brochures are incompatible with the Lalon movement. They say that the saints of the Lalon movement do not wear saffron clothes; therefore, such a presentation is tantamount to cultural and political distortion. They also demand the rehabilitation of past cultural beneficiaries and an impartial investigation into the allegations of irregularities and cultural appropriation during the tenure of former Shilpakala Academy Director General Liaquat Ali Lucky.

The protest letter raises eight demands. These include stopping distortions of cultural heritage in the name of Lalon, ensuring the participation of genuine saints and gurus in the Sadhumela, publishing criteria for selecting instructors, giving the Lalon Academy the responsibility of national research and training, ensuring state allocation in the field of Sadhum, stopping the use of misleading symbols, investigating past irregularities at the Shilpakala Academy, and taking a clear policy stance to protect Lalon's ideology and the dignity of the Sadhusamaja.