Festival turns nightmare! Mob disrupts Baul gathering in Bangladesh, smashes instruments

Gazi Mahbubur Rahman, Officer-in-Charge (OC) of Bishwanath Police Station, told Dhaka Tribune that police visited the scene on Monday afternoon after receiving information about the incident. He added that the situation is currently calm.

Sources said that Baul music sessions have long been held around the Ebrai Shah Mazar (shrine) in Rampasha Union of the upazila. This year, a three-day Baul festival was organised in keeping with the tradition.

According to reports, a group of over a hundred individuals carried out a coordinated attack on the event. The attackers disrupted the gathering, vandalised musical instruments and sound systems, and left the area while chanting slogans.

This marks the first reported attack on a Baul event in Bangladesh since the country elected a new government.

Reports of violence against minorities had emerged during the interim government's tenure, raising concerns over the law and order situation.