Tagore mural defaced in Dhaka, police fear provocation ahead of Durga Puja

Police have detained several people, including A N M Ayas, member-secretary of the Rashtra Songlap Forum, after a mural of Rabindranath Tagore was defaced in Segunbagicha, Dhaka, raising concerns about possible provocation ahead of the upcoming Durga Puja.

The incident took place around noon on Saturday (October 10) when the poet’s portrait on a wall outside Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy was smeared with whitewash.

Sheikh Zahidul Islam, deputy commissioner of Dhaka Metropolitan Police’s Ramna division, said the detainees were taken into custody as a preventive measure amid fears of public disorder. Authorities are yet to decide what charges, if any, will be brought against them. A woman and several others were also reportedly detained in connection with the incident.

A member of the Rashtra Songlap Forum allegedly defaced the mural while protesting what the group described as Indian aggression. Police and intelligence officials are examining the incident to determine whether it was intended to provoke unrest, particularly ahead of the Hindu religious festival. However, no evidence of a coordinated attempt to incite tensions has been confirmed so far.

Security has been heightened across the capital ahead of Durga Puja. On October 6, DMP Commissioner Mosleh Uddin Ahmed described this year’s festival as a major test for the police and said officers would be deployed in uniform and plain clothes to ensure security at puja venues.

The mural was part of a series of portraits of 10 prominent figures, including Tagore, Kazi Nazrul Islam, Zainul Abedin and Satyajit Ray, painted on a wall in Segunbagicha after the Dhaka South City Corporation cleared footpaths of illegal encroachments on October 5.