Voice 9, Dhaka Bureau: A group of young people have performed Islamic music on the stage of the Shardiya Durgotsav in Chittagong, Bangladesh. It was allegedly done by members of the Panjeri Artists Group, a cultural organization of Islami Chhatra Shibir. It is being widely criticized across the country. There is a lot of criticism among netizens.
The incident took place around 7:30pm on Thursday (October 10) on the stage of Shardiya Durgotsav at JMSen Hall in the city, organized by Chittagong Mahanagar Puja Udjapan Parishad. Islami Chhatra Shibir, however, denied the allegation.
According to eyewitness sources, on Thursday evening, leaders of different political parties went to greet JMSN Hall. A group of Jamaat-e-Islami activists also went there. At this time, a group of leaders who were with them rose on the stage and performed Islamic music.
"A video shared on Facebook shows five people holding microphones and performing an Islamic song titled" "Only for Muslims, Come to Islam, for the welfare of the people of the world.""" The lyrics of the song are penned by Chowdhury Abdul Halim. Many people have expressed their resentment over this.
Fakhrul Islam, president of Islami Chhatra Shibir's Chittagong north unit, said: "We have heard about the incident. No one from the Panzeri group or the camp went to the JMSN hall today. The director of the Panjeri group of artists is with me. He says no one was there. We will be going live on Facebook.
Asked whether anyone from Jamaat-e-Islami had gone there, he said, "It is not about going there. There is no question of us going there and performing Islamic music.
Jamaat-e-Islami Chittagong city publicity secretary Morshedul Islam Chowdhury said, "I am sick. I was admitted to the hospital. I'm at home. I don't know if anyone from Jamaat-e-Islami has gone to the JMSN hall.
Liaquat Ali, deputy commissioner (south) of Chittagong Metropolitan Police, said those who performed Islamic music also visited the puja mandap. They performed Islamic music there with the permission of the Puja Celebration Council. There have been brawls on social media regarding this. But here there is no problem. Still, we are talking to the Puja Celebration Council leaders in this regard. Legal action will be taken if they do so.
Chittagong Mahanagar Puja Udjapan Parishad President Ashis Kumar Bhattacharjee and General Secretary Hillol Sen did not respond to calls.