Police have arrested four individuals on sedition charges after they were detained for defacing a graffiti of World Poet Rabindranath Tagore on a wall in front of the Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy in Segunbagicha, the capital.
Deputy Commissioner of Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) Ramna Division, Sheikh Jahidul Islam, confirmed this information to journalists on Sunday (October 11).
The arrested individuals are A N M Ayas (29), Member Secretary of an organization named ‘Rashtra Sanglap Forum’ (State Dialogue Forum), Md. Sakibul Hasan (19), Md. Sujon Mia (18), and Marzia Khandaker Rimi (27).
Police stated that a case was filed at Shahbagh Police Station on charges of anti-state activities, centering on Saturday’s incident. The four individuals have been shown arrested in that case. The case also includes allegations of attempting to distort Rabindranath Tagore’s portrait, delivering provocative speeches, and attempting to disrupt religious harmony.
It is known that on Saturday (October 10) afternoon, A N M Ayas, Member Secretary of Rashtra Sanglap Forum, along with several others, went to whitewash Rabindranath Tagore’s portrait painted on the wall in front of Shilpakala Academy in Segunbagicha. A woman was seen applying whitewash to the portrait’s face at that time. A police officer present at the scene removed her from there.
Subsequently, law enforcement detained Ayas and three others. They were first taken to Shahbagh Police Station and later to the office of the Detective Branch (DB) of Dhaka Metropolitan Police.
Meanwhile, just a few days before the incident, the sidewalk and boundary wall in front of Shilpakala Academy were renovated. On October 5, Dhaka South City Corporation took the initiative to clear the sidewalk, making it suitable for pedestrians.
As part of beautification efforts, portraits of 10 distinguished personalities from art, literature, and culture, including Rabindranath Tagore, National Poet Kazi Nazrul Islam, Shilpacharya Zainul Abedin, and filmmaker Satyajit Ray, were painted on the boundary wall. Additionally, benches and dustbins were installed there for the convenience of pedestrians.
The incident of Rabindranath Tagore’s portrait being defaced with whitewash on the newly decorated wall came to the attention of law enforcement after it surfaced.
Notably, Rabindranath Tagore is one of the foremost figures in Bengali literature and culture. He is the composer of Bangladesh’s national anthem, ‘Amar Shonar Bangla’. In 1913, he achieved unique recognition in world literature as the first Asian to win the Nobel Prize in Literature.
However, questions may arise regarding the legal basis for bringing serious charges like sedition in connection with defacing Rabindranath’s portrait. Sedition is a specific offense under the prevailing laws of Bangladesh. Therefore, it needs to be clarified through the case statement (First Information Report) and investigation how the charge of sedition is related to the accusation of defacing graffiti.