A year of cultural assault

This year did not pass quietly for Bangladesh’s cultural landscape.

Across the country, spaces that once nurtured music, art and spiritual expression became targets of vandalism and intimidation.

Public sculptures were defaced or destroyed. Udichi and Chhayanaut, symbols of progressive cultural practice, were attacked.

Baul and Fakir practitioners faced harassment and violence, and mazars were damaged in repeated acts of desecration.

Taken together, these incidents reveal more than isolated law-and-order failures; they point to a troubling erosion of tolerance and a sustained assault on the country’s diverse cultural traditions.