New Era | Two maddrassah teachers arrested over Islamic songs in Ctg puja mandap

A case was filed against seven people on Friday for performing Islamic music at a puja venue in Chattogram.

The accused in the case included six members of the Chattogram Cultural Academy and Sajal Dutta, joint general secretary of the Puja Udjapan Parishad.

The six accused from the academy are Shahidul Karim, 42, Md Nurul Islam, 34, Abdullah Iqbal, 30, Roni, 28, Gholam Mostafa, 27, and Md Mamun, 36. Two of them have already been arrested.

Sukant Bikas Mahajan, finance secretary of Chattogram City Puja Udjapan Parishad, filed the case at Kotwali police station on Friday night, said Muhammad Fazlul Quader Chowdhury, officer-in-charge of Kotwali police station.

UNB news agency reported that the central committee of the Bangladesh Puja Udjapan Parishad on Friday exempted Chattogram chapter president Ashish Bhattacharya and general secretary Hillol Dey from their responsibilities for not discharging their responsibilities properly .

The central Puja Udjapan Parishad strongly condemned the incident.

President of Bangladesh Puja Udjapon Parishad Shri Basudev Dhar and General Secretary Shri Santosh Sharma said in a statement that people from the Hindu community were deeply hurt by this unexpected incident.

The Parishad demanded a judicial inquiry into the incident and exemplary punishment for those involved.

Earlier, police detained two madrassah teachers allegedly for singing Islamic songs during a Durga Puja event at JM Sen Hall in Chattogram in the early hours of Friday.

Those arrested were Shahidul Karim, 42, a teacher at Tanzimul Ummah Madrassah, and Nurul Islam, 34, a teacher at Darul Irfan Madrassah in Chattogram.

Police said those arrested were being questioned to determine whether they had any political affiliations.

The two teachers were invited to the event by Sajal Dutta, joint secretary of Puja Udjapan Parishad.

Chattogram Metropolitan Police deputy commissioner for crime and operation Roish Uddin disclosed these details at a press conference at the CMP commissioner’s office on Friday afternoon.

He said: ‘Legal action will be taken if it is found that there is any malicious intent.’

Responding to journalists’ queries, Roish Uddin said the police tried to contact those who invited the madrassa teachers, especially Sajal Dutta.

“We are making efforts to find him for further questioning,” Roish said.

He said, ‘The controversy arose during a cultural program held at the puja mandap on the occasion of Durga Puja. The participants were enjoying the performances when members of the Chattogram Cultural Academy came on stage at the invitation of a member of the Puja Committee. They played two songs, one of which caused controversy and later went viral on social media.

‘The process of filing a case is underway in this regard. We are investigating the reason for their presence and whether there is any political element involved,” the deputy police commissioner added.

Chattogram municipal unit general secretary of Bangladesh Puja Udjapan Parishad Hillol Sen said the songs were performed under the banner of Chattogram Cultural Academy with the involvement of joint secretary Sajal Dutta.

Although they were supposed to sing patriotic songs, they sang Islamic songs instead, which provoked anger among people from the Hindu community, Hillol said, adding that it was decided to remove Sajal Sen from his post as joint secretary of the Puja Udjapan Parishad with immediate effect.

Earlier, the incident came to light after a video of six members of Chattogram Cultural Academy singing Islamic songs at JM Sen Hall in Andarkilla went viral on Facebook on Thursday night. The songs performed included ‘Gramer Nawjowan Hindu Musalman’ and ‘Shudhu Muslimer Lagi’.

The incident sparked outrage among the Hindu community, leading to an increased presence of members of law enforcement agencies, including the army, in the area.

Angry Hindu devotees also protested on the road in front of the mandap.

Later, Chattogram Deputy Commissioner Farida Khanam addressed the crowd at the mandap, assuring them that those involved would be arrested and a case would be registered against them.

She said: ‘As district magistrate, I assure you that whoever is responsible for this incident, no matter how powerful, will be arrested within the next 24 to 48 hours.’

The performances received mixed reactions from the Hindu community, with some alleging that the organization is linked to Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami.

In a statement released on Thursday evening, Fakhrul Islam, president of the north Chittagong unit of Bangladesh Islami Chhatra Shibir, denied any involvement in the incident.

“Some people sang songs at JM Sen Hall Puja Mandap and false propaganda is being spread on social media, linking Chhatra Shibir to this incident,” Fakhrul said.

“We want to categorically say that Bangladesh Islami Chhatra Shibir has no connection with this activity,” Fakhrul added.

The JM Sen Hall Durga Puja is a prominent event organized annually by the Chattogram Puja Udjapan Parishad.