Organisers call off Pohela Boishakh event at DC Hill after stage vandalised in Chattogram

Organisers blame attack and lack of cooperation from administration for the cancellation

The Sammilito Pohela Boishakh Udjapon Parishad has announced the cancellation of its daylong Bengali New Year celebration at DC Hill in Chattogram after the stage for the event was vandalised.

“We organisers have decided not to go ahead with the programme following the attack,” said Sucharit Das Khokon, the council’s coordinator, speaking to bdnews24.com on Sunday night.

“We won’t organise the programme. The attack and the administration’s lack of cooperation led us to this decision. We’ve informed the additional deputy commissioner (general) of our decision not to hold the event,” he added.

The stage was attacked around 7:15pm on Sunday near the Buddhist temple at DC Hill, while preparations for the event were ongoing.

“Monday morning was scheduled for the beginning of our celebration. We had completed all preparations, including the stage setup. Then, just before evening, 40 to 50 youths stormed the stage and launched an attack,” Sucharita Das Khokon told bdnews24.com.

Chattogram’s Kotwali Police Station chief Md Abdul Karim said, “Our force was already deployed at the venue. In the evening, some miscreants attempted to attack, but we stopped them. The situation is under control now.”

Despite the police claim, photos from the site showed broken chairs, a damaged stage structure, and torn banners and cloth from the pandal.

The Sammilito Pohela Boishakh Udjapon Parishad has been organising New Year and year-end programmes at DC Hill for the past 46 years.

This year, the group applied for permission to hold their 47th celebration on Feb 13, submitting a formal request to the Chattogram district administration.

However, during a subsequent meeting with the administration, the organisers were told that the permit could not be granted immediately due to security concerns, casting uncertainty over the event.

Eventually, at a meeting on Apr 10 at the district commissioner’s conference room, permission was granted to hold the event at DC Hill from morning till afternoon.

The approval came with conditions: the list of songs to be performed had to be submitted in advance to the administration.

A monitoring committee, led by an executive magistrate, was also formed to oversee the programme.

Although the organisers had requested permission to run the event from 7am to 5pm, they were asked to finish it by 4pm.

The administration also advised them to avoid including any songs or recitations that could be considered controversial.

Around 60 cultural organisations were set to take part in this year’s celebrations.

Following the announcement of cancellation, the organisers vacated the DC Hill premises.