The decision to halt the performance of “Nityopuran” by theatrical ensemble Desh Natak was made to protect the audience’s safety, according to Syed Jamil Ahmed, director general of the Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy.
“Recently, 22 branches of Shilpakala Academy across the country were attacked. Considering the things in mind and security of the audience inside the hall, we decided to halt the show midway. I went inside and apologised to the audience,” he told a virtual press briefing describing the incident.
Around 6 p.m., the play was halted when a group of agitators tried to enter Shilpakala Academy and called Ehshanul Aziz Babu, played by Desh Natak, a fascist collaborator. Babu had posted an altered image on Facebook showing some advisers of the interim government dressed as “Razakars” with Jinnah caps.
Instead of depending on the defence of law enforcement, Jamil Ahmed was adamant on establishing a “people-friendly Shilpakala Academy” based on sincere public support.
“People should take responsibility for promoting the arts, not law enforcers. We want a people-friendly arts academy,” he said, adding, “Since I took office, I have been saying that the practice of art must be placed at the center of society.”
Jamil added: “The law enforcement agency members were there to help us during the incident, but we did not want to confront them with the crowd. Those who want to stage drama should be allowed to do so. The audience will decide whether they watch or not.”
He went on to say that one person’s actions shouldn’t affect the entire theatre company.
“At the beginning, I explained to protesters that more than 200 members of Desh Natak actively participated in the July-August mass uprising,” Jamil recalled, recounting the incident. A few of them were also wounded by gunshots.
The show resumed once the demonstrators returned after being persuaded, Jamil added, “But later they started protesting again… A few individuals scaled the wall and went inside. After speaking with the Desh Natak members, we made the decision to end the performance completely when the gate was broken.
“Come together to save the country,” wrote Ehshanul Aziz Babu of Desh Natak in a Facebook post earlier on October 17. Let’s face these anti-independence, anti-Bangladesh Razakars while chanting Joy Bangla.
Babu, in his facebook post, attached an edited photo depicting some advisers of the interim government wearing Jinnah caps, labelling them as “Razakars”.
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