CHATTOGRAM, Apr 15: The main venue for celebration of the Pahela Baishakh event at DC Hill was vandalised by a group of criminals in Chattogram. Protesting the vandalism the organisers had suspended the programme for celebration of the Festival at DC Hill. They blamed attack and lack of cooperation from administration for the cancellation of the programme.
The Sammilito Pahela Baishakh Udjapon Parishad announced the cancellation of its daylong Bengali New Year celebrations at DC Hill in Chattogram after the stage for the event was vandalised.
"We won't organise the programme. The attack and the administration's lack of cooperation led us to this decision. We've informed the additional deputy commissioner (general) of our decision not to hold the event," said Sucharit Das Khokon, the council's coordinator.
The stage was attacked around 7:15pm on Sunday near the Buddhist temple at DC Hill, while preparations for the event were ongoing.
"Monday morning was scheduled for the beginning of our celebrations. We had completed all preparations, including the stage setup. Then, just before evening, 40 to 50 youths stormed the stage and launched an attack," Sucharit Das Khokon added.
The Sammilito Pahela Baishakh Udjapon Parishad has been organising New Year and year-end programmes at DC Hill for the past 46 years.
This year, the group applied for permission to hold their 47th celebration on February 13, submitting a formal request to the Chattogram district administration.
However, during a subsequent meeting with the administration, the organisers were told that the permit could not be granted immediately due to security concerns, casting uncertainty over the event.
Later on, at a meeting held on April 10 at the district commissioner's conference room, permission was granted to hold the event at DC Hill from morning till afternoon.
The approval came with conditions: the list of songs to be performed has to be submitted in advance to the administration.
A monitoring committee, led by an executive magistrate, was also formed to oversee the programme.
Although the organisers had requested permission to run the event from 7am to 5pm, they were asked to finish it by 4pm.
The administration also advised them to avoid including any songs or recitations that could be considered controversial.
Around 60 cultural organisations were set to take part in this year's celebrations.
Following the announcement of cancellation, the organisers vacated the DC Hill premises.
Meanwhile, the Left Democratic Alliance (LDA) believes the attack on preparations for Bengali New Year celebrations at Chattogram's DC Hill is pre-planned, and said the district administration and law-enforcing agencies "cannot avoid taking responsibility" for the incident.
The leaders of the alliance held protests at the port city's CRB on Monday, demanding those involved in Sunday's attack be brought to justice.
"The administration has completely failed to control the situation," said Nurussafa Bhuiyan, general secretary of the Chattogram unit of the Communist Party of Bangladesh (CPB).
Bangladesh Samajtantrik Dal, or Bangladesh Socialist Party, leader Al Qaderi Joy said a quarter is patronising miscreants in society and letting them attack the country's progressive, democratic, and cultural forces.
"The culprits involved in mob violence, demeaning women, vandalising murals, and sculptures are finding reprieve due to lack of justice, while instigators remain out of sight."
