Rabindranath Tagore mural defaced with black ink in Bangladesh’s Khulna

A mural of Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore was defaced with black ink by unidentified people in Bangladesh’s Khulna, prompting criticism from local residents and cultural figures.

The mural was painted on the boundary wall of Khulna Railway Station alongside portraits of several prominent personalities, including Fakir Lalon Shah, painter SM Sultan, Kazi Nazrul Islam and former prime minister Khaleda Zia. The other portraits were left untouched.

Local residents noticed the damage on Friday morning. Khulna Sadar Police Station Officer-in-Charge Lokman Hossain said police learnt about the incident later that day and had launched an investigation.

“All businesses across the road were closed on Friday, making it difficult to determine who defaced the mural and when,” Hossain was quoted as saying by The Dhaka Tribune.

Two posters were also put up beside the mural. One read: “There is no place for Tagore, who was hostile to Muslims and East Bengal, in Titumir's Bengal. There is no place for glorifying India.”

Khulna City Corporation Administrator Nazrul Islam Manju condemned the incident, saying the portraits were intended to encourage free thinking among children and adolescents.

Cultural activist Shariful Islam Salim alleged that an organised group was behind the defacement and called for those responsible to be identified and brought to justice.

Tagore’s mural was also defaced in Dhaka in October. Police detained four people in connection with that incident, including Al Nur Mohammad Ayash, member secretary of the State Dialogue Forum, PTI reported, citing The Daily Star.

The Khulna City Corporation had commissioned the murals ahead of Prime Minister Tarique Rahman’s visit to the city.