After DU suspension, Satyen Sen Shilpigoshthi’s Sharat Utsab at Gandaria also blocked

After the suspension of its Sharat Utsab (Autumn Festival) at Bakultala in the Faculty of Fine Arts, Dhaka University, Satyen Sen Shilpigoshthi was also unable to hold the programme in the capital’s Gandaria on Friday.

The cultural organisation arranged to stage the festival at the playground of the Kisholoy Kochi-Kachar Mela in Gandaria at around 9:00 am today. However, police prevented the event from taking place.

A press release signed by professor Md Azharul Islam Sheikh, dean of the fine arts faculty at Dhaka University, stated that permission had initially been granted to Satyen Sen Shilpigoshthi to hold its annual Sharat Utsab at Bakultala as in previous years.

However, since one of the organisers was alleged to have links with fascism, members of the platform, Writers, Journalists and Artists Against Fascism, submitted a petition to the faculty authorities, requesting that the event be called off, the released read.

To avoid any untoward incident, the faculty contacted Satyen Sen Shilpigoshthi and decided to temporarily suspend the festival, it added.

The statement further noted that the faculty would hold discussions on Saturday with both its teachers and representatives of Satyen Sen Shilpigoshthi to examine the allegations concerning the alleged association with fascism and decide on the next course of action.

Speaking to Prothom Alo, Satyen Sen Shilpigoshthi’s general secretary Manzar Chowdhury said that the organisation had planned to begin the event at Bakultala from 7:00 am today, for which they had obtained prior permission from the Faculty of Fine Arts authorities.

“However, on Thursday evening, we were informed that allegations had been made claiming that by holding this programme, we were attempting to rehabilitate the Awami League (whose activities are banned). There were also concerns that unrest might occur around the event. We were told that it could not be held there,” he said. “Subsequently, we decided to hold the festival in Gandaria instead.”

Manzar Chowdhury added that when the group was preparing to begin the event at Gandaria around 9:00 am, police arrived at the venue. “They told us there are allegations that a cultural organisation, which follows a party whose activities have been banned, was attempting to rehabilitate that political group in the guise of a cultural festival. They also said the event could not be held, and that we had not obtained the required permission either from the authorities of the ground or from the police,” he said.

In this situation, the Satyen Sen Shilpigoshthi only performed the national anthem and observed one minute of silence in protest against being prevented from holding the event. Afterwards, they left the venue.

Contacted for comment, Dhaka Metropolitan Police’s (DMP) Wari division deputy commissioner Mohammad Harun-or-Rashid, told Prothom Alo that a Sharat Utsab event had indeed been organised at the Kisholoy Kochi-Kachar Mela playground in Gandaria.

According to him, the organisers did not seek permission from either the venue authorities or the police. That is why the organisers were instructed not to hold the event there.