Objections over women performers shut down a home Baul session in Sunamganj, in Shah Abdul Karim's own homeland
A small home Baul music session has been stopped in the homeland of Baul emperor Shah Abdul Karim, after objections were raised that 'obscenity could take place in the name of song'. A written application was even submitted to the police demanding the session be halted; the organiser then cancelled the event himself to avoid an unpleasant situation. The session had been scheduled for Thursday.
The incident took place in Hatia village of Kulanj union in Derai upazila of Sunamganj. Shah Abdul Karim was born in nearby Ujanjhal village of Taral union — a land whose people have been bound to Baul music for generations. That a home music session has been stopped in this very area has sparked wide discussion.
According to police and local residents, UK expatriate Shawkat Ali of Hatia village had arranged a small music programme at his home for his daughter's birthday. Two local women Baul singers, Tanisha and Neela, were to perform. The arrangement was purely familial and domestic in scale.
Objecting to the programme, Atahar Ali and Kamrul Hasan submitted a written application on behalf of the villagers to the officer-in-charge (OC) of Derai police station on Wednesday. Police then spoke with Shawkat Ali, after which he cancelled the event.
The application stated that Hatia village has long been known for religious values and Islamic heritage, that it has an Alim madrasa and the shrine of a saint, and that many Islamic scholars live there. The applicants claimed that holding a programme with women singers could create tension and an unwanted situation, and they requested necessary measures to protect the village's religious tradition and social harmony.
Complainant Kamrul Hasan said music programmes used to be held in the village in the past but no longer take place; the village has mosques and a madrasa and holds annual religious gatherings. He said the arrangement involving women singers had created discontent and fears of disorder among villagers, and that many believe obscenity could occur in the name of song — which is why they requested, from an Islamic perspective, that the programme not be held.
Organiser Shawkat Ali, for his part, said he had arranged a small programme at home for his daughter's birthday. After the objection was raised and the police station called him, he cancelled the event himself, considering social harmony.
Derai police station OC Aminul Islam said he had looked into it and found it was a home arrangement of Baul music. After the objection, police spoke with the organiser, who then said himself that he would not hold the programme.
This is not the first such incident in Derai in recent times. Earlier, a girls' friendly football match at the Derai upazila stadium had to be cancelled in the face of obstruction by a committee formed to 'resist anti-Islamic activities' in Derai. The match between local Swapnachura Sporting Club and Sylhet's Zara Sporting Club was due on October 5, and that incident too drew wide discussion and criticism.
Jahangir Alam, vice-president of the Sunamganj district committee of cultural organisation Udichi, said objections were first raised against girls' football, and now a Baul programme has been stopped on one side's objection. Two events being stopped or suspended in a row over local objections is regrettable, he said; even if the stated reason is protecting religious values and social harmony, the administration and law enforcement must think about how cultural activity and girls' participation in sports can be ensured in such situations.
Baul song is one of the living hearts of Bengali folk culture. That a Baul session — at a child's birthday, in a home, in the Baul emperor's own area — has been stopped raises a question in cultural circles: will cultural activity simply halt whenever an objection is raised, or will the administration find a way to protect harmony and cultural practice together?
