Torch procession in JU demands release of Baul artiste Abul Sarkar

Bauls, Sufis, Shrines and people of different beliefs are continuously being targeted in attacks, protesters allege

Students at Jahangirnagar University have held a torch procession demanding the release of Baul singer Abul Sarkar and protesting against what they described as nationwide attacks and repression on Bauls, Fakirs and Sufis.

The procession was taken out at 8pm from the Shaheed Minar under the banner “Jahangirnagar against repression”.

After parading down several campus roads, the procession ended at Battola with a brief rally.

“We have been watching for the last two years that shrines, Sufis, Bauls and people of different beliefs are being continuously attacked,” said Faiza Mehzabin.

“Such attacks on individual freedom and dissenting beliefs in an independent state were in no way expected in the post-uprising reality. But, regrettably, the interim government has failed to ensure a fair probe or justice in any of these attacks. In other words, we are once again trapped in the same culture of impunity seen under the ‘fascist regime’. We strongly condemn this impunity,” she said.

“We say that this mass uprising was meant to eliminate discrimination and to uphold the spirit of justice and equality. But the way Bauls and Fakirs have been attacked is a sign of neo-fascism taking root. As always, this has been compounded by the misconduct of the interim government’s law enforcement agencies,” said Faizan Ahmed Arko, general secretary, JU, Bangladesh Chhatra Union.

Detective police detained Baul singer Abul for making derogatory remarks about Islam and Allah during a musical event in Ghior Upazila. A court later sent him to jail.

Three people were injured when a demonstration against Abul’s arrest was attacked on Sunday.