Bangladesh tolerance festival scrapped after threats from extremists

A Bangladeshi mystic sect promoting religious tolerance has canceled its popular music festival after Islamist threats, the latest victim of turbulent religious relations since a student-led August revolution.

The overthrow of long-time autocratic Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has sparked a spate of protests in Muslim-majority Bangladesh, including a surge in Islamist groups emboldened to take to the streets after years of suppression.

In the chaotic days following Hasina's ouster, there were reprisals against Hindus—seen by some as disproportionate supporters of her regime—as well as attacks on Muslim Sufi shrines by hardliners.

Devotees of Lalon Shah, a 17th-century Bengali social reformer whose songs of religious tolerance remain influential, had organized a two-day festival, or "mela," in Narayanganj later this month.

More than 10,000 people attended the event last year, listening to musicians promoting the sect’s philosophy—a mix of Hinduism and Sufism rather than one specific religion—which angered some Islamic hardliners.

Narayanganj Deputy Commissioner Mohammad Mahmudul Hoque said city authorities did not approve the program due to concerns about potential violence after assessing security risks.

"This area is a stronghold of groups with opposing views," Hoque said.

Festival organizer Shah Jalal said it was the first time he had to cancel.

Abdul Awal, a committee leader of Hefazat-e-Islam—a coalition of Islamist organizations with significant influence—led marches earlier this month demanding the festival be stopped.

"We cannot allow activities that contradict the true spirit of Islam," Awal said. "In the name of celebration, they promote indecency, with women singing and dancing, gambling, and the smoking of weed (cannabis)," he alleged.

Lalon’s followers, ascetic "Baul" singers who wander on foot from town to town singing and begging for alms, are branded heretics by some Islamists.

"The cancellation of Lalon Mela is a bad omen for all of us," said cultural activist Rafiur Rabbi. "It is disheartening that the government is yielding to majority pressure. Does this mean minorities will no longer have a voice?"

However, the interim government’s cultural affairs advisor, Mostofa Sarwar Farooki, said they were doing what they could.

"Sheikh Hasina’s fall and her fleeing the country created a vacuum that led to a series of incidents, but we have managed to regain control," he said.