A music concert by Bangladeshi rockstar James was cancelled on December 27 (Friday) after a group of people forced their way into the venue after being denied entry.
The incident took place at Faridpur Zila School campus and left nearly 25 people injured, including 15-20 students.
The music concert was being held as part of the school's anniversary. However, the celebrations were marred by the attackers pelting stones and bricks at the audience. As the chaos blew out of control, the authorities called off the event minutes before it was scheduled to begin.
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"We had completed all preparations to make James’ concert a success. But we do not understand why, for what reason, or who carried out the attack," head of the anniversary publicity and media subcommittee, Rajibul Hasan Khan said.
Disturbing visuals
Visuals of the pandemonium went viral on social media. People also blamed the 'extremist groups' for the attack.
The Criticism
The attack drew criticism from several people online. People called it an "attack on culture, creativity and basic freedom".
Taking to X, author Taslima Nasreen said, "The cultural center Chhayanaut has been burned to ashes. Udichi—the organization that was built to foster a secular and progressive consciousness through the promotion of music, theater, dance, recitation, and folk culture—has also been burned to ashes. Today, jihadists did not allow the renowned singer James to perform at an event."
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"A few days ago, Siraj Ali Khan had come to Dhaka. He is the grandson of Ali Akbar Khan, the son of the world-famous maestro Ustad Allauddin Khan. Siraj Ali Khan himself is a distinguished artist of the Maihar gharana. He returned to India without performing any program in Dhaka, saying that he would not come to Bangladesh again until artists, music, and cultural institutions are safe."
She added, "Two days ago, Ustad Rashid Khan’s son Arman Khan also declined Dhaka’s invitation. He too made it clear that he does not wish to set foot in a Bangladesh inhabited by music-hating jihadists."
James is the lead singer of the rock band Nagar Baul and is one of Bangladesh’s most celebrated musicians. He has also sung popular Hindi film songs such as Bheegi Bheegi (Gangster) and Alvida (Life in a… Metro).
