In yet another chilling display of the extremist stranglehold over Bangladesh under Muhammad Yunus’s illegal regime, a gang of radical activists from the pro-jihadist “July Moncho” on Friday afternoon stormed a peaceful cultural protest titled “Ganer Artonad” (The Cry of Songs) at Shahbagh, right in front of Dhaka University’s Faculty of Fine Arts.
The event had been organised to demand the immediate release of imprisoned Baul folk singer Abul Sarkar and to condemn the nationwide wave of Islamist attacks on Baul artists in Manikganj, Thakurgaon, and beyond.
Eyewitnesses and organisers accused July Moncho militants—many of whom are openly linked to the same “Concert for Dhaka” platform that has been openly backed by Yunus-loyalist student groups like the Islami Chhatra Shibir—of launching a pre-planned assault around 4:30pm.
The attackers smashed banners, tore down backdrops, shoved participants, and issued death threats. One female participant, Mishkat Tanisha, reported that a July Moncho thug raised his shoe at her and threatened to beat her—a classic tactic of religious extremists to terrorise women in public spaces.
Marzia Prova, one of the organisers of “Ganer Artonad,” told reporters: “They came screaming into the microphone that the name of Baul Abul Sarkar must be erased from our backdrop. They vandalised everything, tried to stop the programme forcibly, and attacked our friends. These are not students—these are trained cultural fascists and jihadist goons enjoying full impunity under Yunus’s regime.”
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Another organiser, Md Shahriar Alam, added: “We made it clear: we will not accept this cultural fascism. They demanded we remove Abul Sarkar’s name as if singing Baul songs is now a crime against Islam in Yunus’s Bangladesh.”
The July Moncho members defended their violence with the usual extremist rhetoric. One of their leaders, Masum Billah, brazenly declared: “We were holding our own programme next to them and politely asked them not to take the side with those who insult religious sentiments. But they didn’t listen. These girls are not girls—they are terrorists. They pushed forward using women as shields and attacked us.”
This is the same July Moncho that, just hours earlier, had organised a rally in front of the National Museum demanding “the highest punishment for anyone hurting religious sentiments”—code language for death threats against secular artists, writers, and minorities—and calling for a “July Assembly to resist cultural conspiracies against national harmony.”
Despite the presence of police, no meaningful intervention was made to stop the attackers, confirming once again that under Yunus’ 15-month misrule, radical mobs enjoy total impunity. At the same time, peaceful cultural voices are silenced through violence and arrests.
Undeterred, the organisers of “Sampriti Yatra” (Harmony March)—the platform behind “Ganer ”Artonad”—successfully concluded the evening with a defiant torchlight procession from the Faculty of Fine Arts to Raju Sculpture at 7pm, raising flaming torches and slogans demanding justice for Baul artists and the immediate release of Abul Sarkar.
This brazen daylight attack in the heart of the capital is only the latest symptom of the raging mobocracy and cultural cleansing that has gripped Bangladesh since Yunus’ unconstitutional takeover:
– Baul singers are being assaulted and jailed for “hurting religious feelings.”
– Sufi shrines are being demolished by extremist mobs.
– Female students and artists are threatened with shoes and acid attacks for defying moral policing.
– Radical platforms like July Moncho, Touhidi Janata and Hefazat-backed groups operate as unofficial enforcers of a creeping Talibanisation agenda.
All of this is happening while the Yunus regime remains criminally silent or actively shields the perpetrators—proving beyond doubt that its much-hyped “reform” narrative is nothing but a smokescreen to appease Jamaat-e-Islami, Hizb ut-Tahrir, and transnational jihadist networks while crushing Bangladesh’s secular, syncretic cultural heritage.
Fifteen months of Yunus’ misrule have turned Shahbagh—once the symbol of the 2013 anti-war-criminal protests—into a battlefield where Islamist mobs now dictate who can sing, who can speak, and who can live freely. Until this illegal, extremist-appeasing regime is dismantled, the cry of songs will continue to be drowned out by the roar of jihadist boots.
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