No Place For Glorifying India: Rabindranath Tagore Mural Defaced In Bangladesh

A mural of Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore has been defaced by unidentified people in Bangladesh's Khulna, with black ink smeared across the portrait. Two posters carrying anti-Tagore and anti-India messages were also put up beside the artwork.

The incident took place on the boundary wall of Khulna Railway Station, where murals of prominent personalities and symbols of the region's cultural heritage have been displayed. Local residents noticed the damage on Friday morning.

Interestingly, portraits of several other prominent figures on the same wall, including Fakir Lalon Shah, Kazi Nazrul Islam, painter SM Sultan, former prime minister Khaleda Zia and former president Ziaur Rahman, were left untouched.

One of the posters accused Tagore of being hostile towards Muslims and East Bengal and declared: " There is no place for Tagore, who was hostile to Muslims and East Bengal, in Titumir's Bengal. There is no place for glorifying India."

The boundary wall also features artwork depicting the July uprising, the Sundarbans, the Sixty Dome Mosque and the jute industry. The Khulna City Corporation commissioned the murals ahead of Prime Minister Tarique Rahman's visit to the city.

Khulna Sadar Police Station Officer-in-Charge Lokman Hossain confirmed that police had received information about the incident on Friday afternoon and launched an investigation. However, identifying those responsible could prove difficult as businesses across the road were closed on Friday.

Khulna City Corporation Administrator Nazrul Islam Manju condemned the defacement, saying the portraits were intended to encourage independent thinking among children and adolescents. He described the act as an indication of narrow-mindedness.

Meanwhile, cultural activist and Nattyalok general secretary Shariful Islam Salim suspected that an organised group was behind the incident. He pointed to similar acts in Dhaka and warned that other prominent cultural figures could also be targeted.

Salim said Tagore's literature and philosophy had inspired generations to embrace secularism, independent thinking and human dignity. The incident follows the defacement of another Tagore mural in Dhaka in October, when police detained four people in connection with the case.