Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina resigned and fled the country on Monday amid intense student-led protests. This significant political shift leaves India with fewer friendly governments in the neighborhood, with only Sri Lanka expected to maintain close ties with New Delhi.
Islamists killed and tortured the minority Hindus in the country and looted their properties. One such devastating story is of Bangladeshi singer Rahul Ananda whose house was looted and burnt down by an Islamist mob.
On 5th August in the afternoon an Islamist mob reached the house of the singer of the band Joler Gaan, Rahul Ananda. He was living in a rented house that was attacked.
Rahul, his wife Shukla, his son Tota and other family members were there when the attack happened. They managed to escape and took shelter at an unknown location.
Founding member of Joler Gaan, Saiful Islam Journal said, ‘Rahul Da and his family are disturbed and taken shelter in a secret place known to only a few. We could not contact him yet. It was not even his house, it was a rental he had been living in for decades. I came to know the incident happened around 4 pm. From what I have heard, a group of goons attacked the residence and Rahul Da, Shukla Di (Rahul’s wife), Tota (his son) and other family members somehow got out’.
According to the media reports, ‘As soon as they had broken the gate, they started damaging the house and started taking whatever they could find for themselves. They took everything from furniture and mirrors to valuables. After that, they torched the whole house along with Rahul da’s musical instruments’.
There were around 3,000 irreplaceable musical instruments at the house which he designed and made over the years. The monetary value of household items could be close to Tk 10 lakh.
Some of the friends of the singer tried to whitewash the incident as an attack on a Hindu singer suggesting the attack took place because the house was adjacent to Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman’s in Dhanmondi 32.
The band posted a video on Instagram comprising of old visuals of the instruments and the condition of the house post-attack. The video is heartbreaking, to say at least.
The band also posted a video of Facebook, ‘Maybe we can rebuild this musical instrument, song or arranged family in a long time. But, how can I extinguish this fire of anger and vengeance? Why can’t we conquer everything with love and affection? If I fail to come forward in the same way to protect the freedom I dream of, then I sing my song in a broken heart with extreme disappointment, humiliation and shame’.
Notably, in September 2023, France’s President Emmanuel Macron made a visit to Rahul’s house. Unfortunately, the house, where Rahul lived, was a 140-year-old place which has now been burnt to ashes with all the memories.
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