July Mancha displays militant extremism as concert attacked and vandalised

Staff Correspondent

There have been allegations of violent and organized attacks by members of the July Mancha during the ‘Ganer Atanad’ program, organized to protest the release of Baul Abul Sarkar and attacks on Baul artists across the country.

The organizers claimed that the public behavior at Shahbagh amounted to “cultural terrorism” and “militant-like extremism.”

The incident took place in front of the Faculty of Fine Arts of Dhaka University at around 3:30 pm on Friday, November 28. The situation became heated as banners were torn, shouting into microphones, women were threatened, pushed and vandalized during a peaceful cultural program.

Sami Abdullah, general secretary of the Dhaka University branch of the Revolutionary Students’ Alliance, complained, “An organized group attacked us from the July stage and Usman Hadi’s concert. They were already planning to attack at various points. This was a pre-planned act of extremism.”

Many of the participants said that the attackers not only broke banners, but also openly threatened the women.

Participant Mishkat Tanisha said, “One of them threatened to hit me with his shoe. This is not just an attack, but an attempt to disrupt the program by intimidation.”

Organizer Md. Shahriar Alam said, “The behavior of the July stage is a direct example of cultural fascism. We were holding a peaceful cultural gathering, and they tried to create panic by attacking it.”

Another organizer, Md. Wasi, complained, “They specifically told us to drop Baul Abul Sarkar’s name. This is clearly an attempt to control the cultural program under political and religious extremist pressure.”

“The July stage first came and shouted, then broke our backdrop. They rushed in front of the women, abused them and wanted to disrupt the program,” said Marzia Prabha, organizer of the ‘Ganer Atanad’ program.

July Mancha activist Masum Billah, however, denied the attack allegations and said, “We have told them not to hold any events in support of those who insult religion.”

Participants believe that this statement is essentially an expression of extremist behavior, which is an indirect admission of attacking cultural programs in broad daylight.

Marzia Prabha said, “The attack on the July stage could not stop us in any way. We will protest the attacks on Bauls all over Bengal through a torch procession at 6 pm and demand the release of Abul Sarkar.”