A violent mob vandalised the ancestral home of Nobel Laureate Rabindranath Tagore the historic Rabindra Kachharibari located in Shahjadpur, Sirajganj district of Bangladesh. As the interim regime of Mohammad Yunus remains conspicuously silent, the attack has sparked outrage across intellectual, diplomatic, and cultural communities in both India and Bangladesh, with many calling it an alarming sign of Bangladesh’s increasing radicalisation and cultural regression.
This was not just an attack on bricks and mortar — it was an ideological assault on a civilisation. On a poet who gave voice to freedom. On a thinker whose writings birthed national identities. On a Bengali Hindu whose global vision is now being vilified in his own homeland.
The incident unfolded in the otherwise serene town of Shahjadpur, where Tagore once managed his family’s estate and composed some of his most iconic literary works including Sonar Tori and Chaitali. The Kachharibari, now a museum and heritage site under the Bangladesh Department of Archaeology, is regarded as a national treasure.
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A local visitor reportedly arrived with his family at the premises. An altercation reportedly broke out at the entrance between the visitor and a staff member over a motorcycle parking fee — a seemingly trivial dispute that would soon spiral into cultural catastrophe. According to multiple media reports, the visitor was allegedly confined in a room and physically assaulted by the staff.
As news of the incident spread, a group of locals began a protest, forming a human chain outside the premises. What began as a demonstration soon escalated into a full-fledged mob attack. Eyewitnesses and local media reports allege that the mob, which included radical Islamist elements affiliated with Jamaat-e-Islami and Hefazat-e-Islam, stormed the site, shouting slogans against Tagore and vandalising the museum’s auditorium, windows, doors, and furnishings. One of the institution’s directors was also reportedly physically attacked.
What followed was the desecration of an icon. “They raised anti-Tagore slogans. They hurled abuses, broke chairs, smashed glass — it was chaos. No security personnel intervened until it was too late,” said a local historian present at the scene.
The Department of Archaeology has since formed a three-member committee to investigate the incident and has temporarily shut down visitor access to the site, citing “unavoidable circumstances.” Md Habibur Rahman, the site’s custodian, confirmed that the premises are now under strict surveillance.
But the damage is already done not just physically but symbolically. Despite the scale and seriousness of the attack, there has been no public condemnation from the country’s interim Prime Minister, Muhammad Yunus. His studied silence, critics say, is not mere negligence but complicity.
Cultural commentators are asking if this is how Bangladesh treats Rabindranath Tagore, the composer of its own national anthem Amar Shonar Bangla, then what does it say about the trajectory of the state under Yunus’s rule?
This shameful incident is not isolated. It comes amid growing unrest and authoritarianism in Bangladesh since Sheikh Hasina’s resignation in August 2024. The interim government led by Yunus has banned the Awami League, cracked down on opposition voices, jailed journalists, and repeatedly dismissed international and Indian media reports of rising violence against Hindu minorities.
Ironically, Yunus recently accused Indian media of spreading “fake news” while simultaneously urging Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to censor the social media speeches of the exiled Sheikh Hasina — a request Modi flatly refused.
Now, as Tagore’s legacy is physically desecrated under his watch, Yunus’ claims of being a guardian of democracy ring increasingly hollow. Critics see the vandalism as part of a systematic cultural cleansing, aimed at erasing Bengali Hindu contributions to the region’s intellectual and spiritual heritage.
The targeting of Tagore is loaded with symbolism. A figure who stood for pluralism, interfaith harmony, freedom of thought, and universal brotherhood, Tagore is now being portrayed — through silence and complicity — as an outsider in the very land he helped define. Many see this as part of a growing pattern of de-Hinduisation and Arabisation of Bengali Muslim identity promoted by radical groups in Bangladesh.
“This attack was not just on a house, it was on everything Rabindranath Tagore stood for — inclusivity, reason, and tolerance,” said Professor Sumit Dasgupta, a leading Tagore scholar based in Kolkata. “The destruction of his ancestral home is a signal that Hindu intellectual contributions are no longer welcome.”
Worse, no arrests have been made. No clear assurances of punishment have been offered. Instead, the Yunus administration has tried to reduce the attack to a “mob incident” arising from a “local misunderstanding.” “If Rabindranath Tagore is no longer safe in Bangladesh, his very ideals are under siege. This is not just cultural vandalism; this is ideological genocide,” said Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma.
Meanwhile, critics of the West Bengal government have pointed to disturbing similarities in the slow erosion of Hindu identity and heritage. “Whether it’s attacks on Hindu festivals, appeasement politics, or cultural dilution, Mamata Banerjee’s Bengal is walking a similar path,” said BJP spokesperson Agnimitra Paul. “If we don’t defend our icons like Tagore today, we risk becoming rootless tomorrow.”
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