On Friday evening, the central office of Udichi Shilpigoshthi, a prominent progressive cultural organisation in Bangladesh, located on Topkhana Road in Dhaka, was vandalised and set on fire.
This incident occurred just one day after similar attacks on the offices of leading newspapers Prothom Alo and The Daily Star, as well as the historic Chhayanaut cultural centre.
Udichi’s acting General Secretary Amit Ranjan Dey claimed the arson was deliberate, describing it as a continuation of the previous night’s attacks on newspaper offices. He stated that vandalism began around 7:45pm, followed by the arson attack.
The Udichi office is situated on the second floor of a five-story building. The Fire Service and Civil Defence deployed four units, bringing the blaze under control by around 8:15pm. No immediate details on the cause or extent of damage were available.
The Yunus interim government condemned attacks on media houses, but has faced criticism for limited public comment on the assaults on cultural institutions. Overall, violence has raised concerns over press freedom, cultural heritage, and stability ahead of elections.
Attack on Chhayanaut by Islamist Mobs
The unrest escalated following the death of Sharif Osman Hadi, a prominent mob leader and convener of Inquilab Mancha, who passed away in Singapore on Thursday after being shot earlier in the month. Protests mourning his death turned violent overnight into Friday, with mobs—described in multiple reports as Islamist radicals, including groups identifying as Touhidi Janata (a common platform of radical Islamists linked to Jamaat, Hefazat and armed militants)—targeting media and cultural institutions.
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On Thursday midnight, a mob stormed Chhayanaut, Bangladesh’s iconic cultural institution founded in 1961 to promote Bengali music, arts, and heritage (famous for organising Pohela Boishakh celebrations). The six-story building in Dhanmondi was extensively vandalised across all floors: classrooms ransacked, CCTV cameras, computers, and furniture destroyed, and musical instruments—particularly harmoniums, tablas, sitars, and tanpuras—smashed in targeted rage. Laptops, phones, hard disks, and electrical equipment were looted or burned, including the server room and auditorium.
Chhayanaut Vice President Partha Tanvir Naved described the coordinated midnight assault, noting security personnel were alerted in advance, protecting lives but not the property. General Secretary Laisa Ahmad Lisa vowed that Chhayanaut would not deviate from its mission and would resume activities soon after repairs.
In a joint statement, President Sarwar Ali and Lisa expressed grief over Hadi’s death but questioned why it was used as a pretext to attack a non-political cultural body fostering harmony. They suggested that anti-cultural forces exploited the situation and demanded a thorough investigation and action against perpetrators.
Condemnation Against Chhayanaut Attack
On Friday, teachers, artists, and civil society members gathered at the damaged Chhayanaut building, beginning cleanup efforts. A human chain and rally were organised in front, condemning the attack, expressing solidarity with Chhayanaut, and demanding justice.
Participants included educators, lawyers, writers, filmmakers, artists, students, and parents. Dhaka University Professor Samina Lutfa accused a group of deliberately destabilising the country by targeting media and cultural icons, exploiting Hadi’s death. She called for exemplary justice in his killing but urged the government to prevent lawlessness.
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Lawyer and human rights activist Sara Hossain described the assault as reminiscent of 1971 Liberation War-era attacks on intellectuals and artists by forces opposing Bangladesh’s secular identity, demanding immediate arrests.
Broader Context of Attacks on Cultural and Historical Sites
These incidents fit a pattern of assaults on cultural organisations, Liberation War monuments, museums, and libraries that intensified after the August 2024 ouster of the Awami League government. Reports document widespread vandalism of over 1,400 sculptures and memorials related to the 1971 Liberation War, including the Bangabandhu Memorial Museum (burned multiple times), Mujibnagar Complex, and Independence Museum. Sources attribute much of this to anti-liberation Islamist forces opposing secular symbols, though some view it as a backlash against prior regime icons.
Touhidi Janata, an Islamist vigilante group linked to Hefazat-e-Islam, has been implicated in enforcing religious norms through violence, including recent attacks on cultural events and minorities. While not directly confirmed in these specific December assaults, reports describe the mobs as Islamist radicals chanting religious slogans.
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