'Ulterior motive' behind singing at Puja Mandap being probed: Police

Possible ulterior motives behind singing Islamic songs on the stage of a Puja Mandap in Chattogram city is being investigated. This was stated by the police during a press conference organised at Dampara Police Lines in the city at 12:00 pm today, Friday.

It was stated during the press conference that two people have been detained in this incident and they are being questioned. The two detainees are Shahidul Karim, a teacher at Tanzimul Ummah Madrasa and Nurul Islam, a teacher at Darul Irfan Academy. They were detained from separate locations in the city on Thursday night.

The incident of singing occurred at the stage of Durga Puja celebration at JM Sen Hall in Rahmatganj area of the city around 7:00 pm on Thursday evening.

Deputy commissioner (crime and operations) of Chattogram Metropolitan Police (CMP) Rais Uddin said that six artistes from Chattogram Cultural Academy at the invitation of Sajal Dutta, the joint general secretary of the Puja Celebration Committee sang songs at the stage of the Mandap. Some lyrics of the songs hurt religious sentiments of the people present there.

In connection to the incident, two people were detained by conducting drives on Thursday night. The others will be detained as well. The two detainees are being questioned. Police is investigating if there were any ulterior motive behind the incident or not. Preparations are on to file a case in this incident.

Additional deputy commissioner (public relations) of CMP Kazi Tareq Aziz had stated this morning that a case has been filed in this incident. Two people have been arrested and details information about the two arrested would be shared during the press conference.

However, during the press conference it was stated that preparations are on to file a case. And two people have been detained. In response to journalist’s question in this regard, deputy commissioner of CMP Rais Uddin said there was a ‘gap’ of information among themselves.

Replying to journalists' question if the two detainees have any political involvement Rais Uddin said, that will also come up in the investigation. Apart from that, joint general secretary of the Puja celebration committee Sajal Dutta is being searched for to find about why artistes from Chattogram Cultural Academy were invited to perform. But, he cannot be reached.

On Thursday night, president of the Puja celebration committee Ashish Bhattacharjee took to the stage to express his regret over the incident. He asked for forgiveness and announced that Sajal Dutta was being ousted from the committee.

Some of the witnesses said six members of the cultural organisation named Chattogram Cultural Academy performed two songs on the stage of this Durga Puja Mandap. One of those two songs was an Islamic song titled ‘Shudhu Musalmaner Lagi Asheniko Islam’. As reported by a source, the organisation is supported by Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami.

When the video footages of this incident went viral on social media, it garnered extensive criticism. Under those circumstances, deputy commissioner of Chattogram Farida Khanam went to that Puja Mandap around 10:30 pm on Friday night. She promised to arrest the people involved within 48 hours.

A video of about three-minute that went viral on the social media showed six youths singing the song on stage. Some people standing nearby were seen recording the performance on their cellphones.

When asked, president of Chattogram Cultural Academy Selim Zaman told Prothom Alo that they had gone there to perform at the invitation of Sajal Dutta, the joint secretary of the Puja Celebration Committee.

Two different songs were performed there and both of them were songs promoting harmony. Some people are spreading propaganda by editing the video.

However, after verifying the video of that incident that went viral on Facebook fact-checking organisation Rumor Scanner stated on their Facebook page, that the video of was real and not edited.

When asked about Chattogram Cultural Academy, Chattiogram City (north) Chhatrashibir president Fakhrul Islam said that it’s not an organisation of the Chhatra Shibir. However, a leader of Jamaat-e-Islami has confirmed this to Prothom Alo that Chattogram Cultural Academy is a cultural organisation supported by Jamaat-e-Islami.

Sources from the Puja celebration association stated that a dance programme was running on the stage Thursday evening. Some youths came at that time and took to the stage saying that they will sing patriotic songs. They performed two songs and then left with a thank you. Nobody protested or forced them to leave the stage while they were singing.

When asked, finance secretary of Chattogram City Puja Celebration Association Sukanta Mohajon said that those youths came to joint secretary of the association Sajal Dutta and said that they would perform patriotic songs on stage.

Then they climbed on to the stage and started singing the song. They left after finishing the songs. When tried to contact Sajal Dutta several times on his phone last night to talk about this, his phone was found switched off.