Islamist attacks on mystic singers spark sharp reaction in Bangladesh
They claimed that religious strife has increased since the fall of Sheikh Hasina’s government.
“Religious extremism increased in the period following the mass uprising in July (which toppled prime minister Sheikh Hasina’s Awami League regime in 2024),” the declaration signed by 250 distinguished citizens said.
It was stated that a particular group emerged as the ‘sole representative’ of Islam and initiated a nationwide purge.
The report stated that the “weapon of choice” was the ploy to constantly undermine public sentiment, thus creating a “suffocating situation”.
Notable members of the public said, “Destroying more than 200 shrines, declaring countless people apostates-infidels-shatim, exhuming and burning corpses, forcibly cutting the hair of the baul and the poor in the streets, harassing women regarding movement and dress, and obstructing programs that include dance, music, theater, and even sports and fairs, seem to be their goal to destroy people with different views and practices.” he said. The statement, signed by academics who mostly opposed the past regime, including economist Professor Anu Mohammad and Prof Salimullah Khan, said it was clear that those tasked with maintaining law and order had not taken any effective steps to stop “mafia terrorism or vigilantism”. “Rather, they encouraged it (gang violence) by maintaining silence from the beginning, trying to downplay the incidents by calling them ‘pressure groups,’ and even detaining victims or attacking survivors in trumped-up cases,” the statement said.
In a statement, rights group Ain o Salish Kendra (ASK) expressed “deep concern” over the attack on Sarkar’s followers and fans following his arrest.
The Bangladesh branch of Berlin-based watchdog Transparency International said in a separate statement that the developments reflected an alarming increase in hostility towards religious harmony.
A new form of “religious fascism” has emerged in Bangladesh, poet and activist Farhad Mazhar warned while attending a protest rally in the capital.
Mazhar, who was a harsh critic of the past Awami League regime, said, “Arresting him (Sarkar) would mean arresting me too. I will not accept this.”
The poet is the husband of one of the members of the advisory council of the head of the interim government, Professor Muhammad Yunus.
The detective branch of the police arrested popular ‘baul’ singer Abul Sarkar from a music show in West Madaripur on charges of “deliberately” inciting riots or violence and hurting religious sentiments.
Sarkar was produced before a court in suburban Manikganj and was jailed the same day.
Two days later, Islamists under the banner of Tawhidi Janata, meaning ‘people who follow monotheism’, attacked fellow singers on the northern outskirts of the capital Dhaka during a street rally for Sarkar’s release, leaving four of them seriously injured.
According to academics and cultural experts, ‘bauls’ like Lalan Shah, with their syncretic, liberal worldview, have existed in today’s Bangladesh much longer than the modern adherents of the ‘puritan movements’ represented by the Tawhidi Janata.
Left-leaning student groups and cultural activists held separate torchlight marches in Dhaka and suburban Jahangirnagar University on Sunday evening to condemn the attacks on the singers.
On Sunday, a group of baul singers and artistes also held a demonstration in front of the National Press Club in Dhaka, protesting the arrest of Sarkar, affectionately called “Moharaj” by his fans.
Since last year, gangs under the banner of Tawhid Janata have disrupted cultural gatherings and destroyed numerous shrines of Muslim Sufi saints who preached moderate Islam in the region, as well as carried out attacks on minorities and especially Hindu communities.
“I think the government’s stance here is problematic. They need to take action against groups that resort to violence against others. There is also a question as to why such cases are accepted so easily,” lawyer Sara Hossain told The Business Standard (TBS).
He said there had been “too much talk” about freedom of expression in the past year and that he questioned “what it means, how it is suppressed and how it is enforced”.
Mostofa Sarwar Farooki, the interim government’s cultural affairs adviser and a de facto minister, said in a Facebook post: “The Ministry of Home Affairs is trying to handle this ‘extremely sensitive and sensitive issue’ with great responsibility.”
He, however, added that the crackdown on ‘bauls’ is not new and has taken place under many governments, including the ousted Awami League era. “You will find numerous examples where Bauls were attacked, their hair cut off, their tools destroyed.”
Younis’ press secretary Shafiqul Alam described the attack as “deplorable”, adding that the administration was actively working to identify those involved in the attack.
But TBS newspaper commented that “condemnation without action seems hollow – especially when the attackers operate publicly and with apparent impunity.”
The newspaper specifically described Farooki’s statement as “a rather weak defense for a government that has come with the promise of eliminating all the evils of the Awami League”.
