New Delhi: Bangladesh’s celebrated Hindu folk singer Rahul Ananda and his family fled their home in Dhaka Monday after a mob attacked and set fire to the building, destroying over 3,000 musical instruments.
The frontman for Joler Gaan, an independent folk band in the country, Ananda had hosted French President Emmanuel Macron in September 2023 during his visit to the country. Macron was given a tour of his collection of instruments, as well as a demonstration of various renditions of his music.
“This house in Dhanmondi 32 of Joler Gaan was not just the house of Rahul Ananda; it was the dream of the whole team… Where so many songs, so many melodies, and hundreds of musical instruments were made. Not just that, the house used to be the official studio of the band. From all the team music practice, all studio work — recording, mixing, editing — was done here,” said the band in a post on Facebook.
The band also shared the last song recorded in the house — very close to Sheikh Mujibur Rahman’s in Dhanmondi — before it was destroyed in the violence following Sheikh Hasina’s resignation as prime minister Monday.
“But, apart from Rahulda and all the musical instruments, song documents and official documents of our team, Dada’s family’s beds, all are burnt to ashes! All of them! The man who was constantly thinking about everyone has been kicked out of his own house, including his family,” the Facebook post further said.
The folk artist was also famous for making a variety of musical instruments — some 3,000 were kept in the house at the time of the attack.
All instruments were either looted or destroyed in the fire. According to the Daily Star, Ananda and his family have fled to a secret location and have been unreachable except to a select few.
In the days following Hasina’s resignation amid the anti-quota student demonstrations, there have been multiple incidents of violence across Bangladesh.
Within Dhaka, statues and memorials to Sheikh Mujibur Rehman — the first leader of the country — have been attacked and destroyed. In the rest of the country, minority communities have been targeted, including their homes, business and places of worship.
Bangladesh President Mohammed Shahabuddin Tuesday announced an interim government led by Nobel Laureate Muhammad Yunus, hours after Parliament was dissolved.
On Monday, the Bangladesh Army chief General Waker-Uz-Zaman had assumed responsibility for the political transition to an interim government after Hasina fled the country.
Former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia was released from house arrest Tuesday and has called for unity and peace across the country.
(Edited by Tikli Basu)
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How biased a news organisations can be you totally become best in the field of biasness…in this article you not even mention the religious angel…he is targeted because he is Hindu but nothing in this article… even you try to justify the attack by saying that he performed lastly in the house that is close to sheikh mujibur rahman house… how someone so biased and hinduphobic…but let me tell you the fact that he is the one who supports students protest but putting that fact on side his house is targeted by Islamists…. you also know the reason because he is Hindu and Hindus are devil or kafir in your eyes…I read your posts about caa protests or Delhi violence where you cover single side of story that is Muslims side and you even put everything in religious terms in that cases…but here in this article as the perpetrators are Islamists and victims are Hindu you don’t put any religious terms and making it political…I think first when you do biased reporting during caa and Delhi riots that you are just biased because you take side of minority Muslim… but after reading so much biased articles from your organization and this biased article I clearly said that you are biased and hinduphobic propagandist