Rabindranath Tagore’s graffiti defaced in Dhaka, four detained for questioning

New Delhi: A graffiti mural of Nobel laureate poet Rabindranath Tagore was defaced outside the Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy in Dhaka. Following this act of vandalism, police detained four people, including a woman, for questioning.

The Detective Branch (DB) of police is interrogating the detainees in connection with the incident.

The graffiti, located on a wall in front of the Shilpakala Academy in the Segunbagicha area of the capital, was defaced with black ink on Saturday. The incident took place ahead of the Sharadiya Durga Puja festival and has raised concerns over the possibility of unrest during the religious celebrations.

Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) Ramna Division Deputy Commissioner Sheikh Zahidul Islam confirmed the detention of the four people to the Dhaka Tribune on Saturday evening.

“Four people, including a woman, have been detained. They are now at the DB for questioning. Their names and identities cannot be disclosed at this stage in the interest of the investigation,” Dhaka Tribune quoted him saying.

Earlier on Saturday, Shahbagh police detained ANM Ayas, member secretary of the Rashtra Sanglap Forum, in connection with the incident. Two other people, including a woman, were also detained over the same matter.

Several videos circulating on social media showed a woman using a brush to smear black ink across Tagore’s mural. A police officer from Shahbagh Police Station intervened and moved her away from the spot. Following a commotion involving the woman and her associates, police detained them and took them away in a van. The group was also heard chanting slogans during the incident.

Speaking to the media initially, the woman claimed that Tagore had opposed the establishment of the University of Dhaka and had asked, “What need do paupers have of education?” Describing the poet as “against Bangladesh”, she said she had defaced the portrait in protest.

However, she later offered a different explanation, claiming that she had been suffering from a fever and had gone to the Shilpakala Academy area under the pretext of attending a regular protest programme.

The incident has drawn attention to the circumstances surrounding the defacement of the mural ahead of the religious festival. However, police have yet to establish whether the act was linked to any planned provocation.

The four detainees are being questioned by the Detective Branch as part of the ongoing investigation.

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