4 held during attempt to smear ink on Rabindranath graffiti

Police detained four people, including a woman and State Dialogue Forum Member Secretary ANM Ayas, while they were allegedly attempting to smear ink on a graffiti portrait of Rabindranath Tagore on a pavement wall in front of Shilpakala Academy in the capital's Segunbagicha.

They were detained from the area around noon today (10 October). The identities of the other three detainees could not be immediately confirmed.

Police sources said the four were initially taken to Shahbagh Police Station before being transferred to the Detective Branch (DB) office.

Confirming the detention, Sheikh Zahidul Islam, deputy commissioner of the Dhaka Metropolitan Police's Ramna division, said, "We have detained four people and handed them over to the DB for questioning. A decision will be made about them after the interrogation."

Earlier in the afternoon, Ayas and several others allegedly attempted to deface Tagore's graffiti portrait. A video of the incident shows a woman applying black paint to the poet's face before a police officer intervenes and moves her away.

Speaking to the media, the woman said she had defaced the portrait because she believed Tagore was against Bangladesh.

"We have come to protest against Indian aggression," she said, alleging that Muslims had faced oppression and persecution under Tagore's zamindari.

"We do not want portraits of this oppressor on any wall in Bangladesh. We want portraits of distinguished Bangladeshis and people who stand for Bangladesh. Our struggle is against Indian aggression," she added.

On 5 October, Dhaka South City Corporation cleared encroachments from the pavement in Segunbagicha and painted portraits of 10 prominent figures who contributed to the country's art, literature and culture on a nearby wall. The portraits included those of Shilpacharya Zainul Abedin, Satyajit Ray, Rabindranath Tagore and Kazi Nazrul Islam.