India Condemns Vandalism of Rabindranath Tagore's Ancestral Home In Bangladesh, Demands Strict Action

New Delhi: India on Thursday (June 12) strongly condemned the vandalism of Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore’s ancestral home in Bangladesh’s Sirajganj district, describing it as part of a “systematic” pattern by extremists to undermine the country’s syncretic cultural heritage.

Authorities at the historic site, which served as an estate office during Tagore’s tenure as a Zamindar, have now shut the premises to visitors indefinitely. The move followed unrest sparked by an alleged altercation during the Eid holidays between a visitor and staff over a parking fee, which later escalated into a violent protest and mob attack.

At the weekly press briefing, Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal termed the June 8 attack on the Rabindra Kachharibari as a “despicable” act and “a disgrace to the memory and the inclusive philosophy” of the Nobel Laureate.

“The attack falls in the broad pattern of systematic attempts by extremists to erase the symbols of tolerance and eviscerate the syncretic culture and the cultural legacy of Bangladesh. We urge the interim government to rein in the extremists, and take strict action against the perpetrators to prevent recurrence of such incidents that sadly have become a repetitive feature,” he said.

According to a June 10 report of Prothom Alo, the video of a visitor, Md. Shahnewaz, being beaten up by staff, which is now a museum, two days earlier on June 8 had gone viral. As per local accounts cited by the newspaper, an argument broke out at the main gate when Shahnewaz could not produce a separate parking token.

The confrontation escalated, and staff members, including the custodian, reportedly dragged him to an office and beat him with sticks. He was later rescued by relatives and local BNP leaders. Shahnewaz filed a police complaint the same night.

On Tuesday (June 10) afternoon, residents of Shahjadpur held a human chain at the Press Club demanding action against those involved in the assault. A protest march followed, which eventually entered the Kacharibari premises. Protesters vandalised parts of the auditorium, including the custodian’s office.

News agency BSS reported on Wednesday (June 11) that Department of Archaeology had constituted a three-member probe committee to investigate into the attack and damage of the Rabindra Kacharibari. The Custodian, Md Habibur Rahman told journalists that the authority had suspended the access of the visitors into the Kacharibari due to “unavoidable circumstances”.

The local police told the media that a case has been lodged against 50 to 60 people for attacking and ransacking the Kacharibari.

BJP takes dig at Trinamool Congress over incident

In India, the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) sharply criticised the incident and took a dig at the Trinamool Congress. Party spokesperson Sambit Patra alleged that the violence was orchestrated over several days by Islamist outfits Jamaat-e-Islami and Hefazat-e-Islam. He said the BJP was treating the matter with “seriousness and sensitivity,” and called for an international outcry against what he described as an assault on shared heritage. Patra also questioned West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee’s silence.

Reacting separately, Mamata Banerjee wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, asking him to lodge a strong protest with the Bangladeshi government. She urged New Delhi to demand swift justice for the “heinous and mindless act” and called for a coordinated international response.

In her letter, Mamata described the attack as a blow to “a shared legacy,” noting that Tagore’s ancestral home symbolised the intertwined history of Bengali literature and India’s freedom struggle. “To strike at that is to strike at the soul of our region,” she wrote.

The Foreign Ministry of Bangladesh said in a statement that two persons have been arrested in connection of the incident.

"The people and the government of Bangladesh hold Poet Rabindranath Tagore in the highest of esteem and his contribution to our language, literature and culture is deeply revered. The Government and the people of Bangladesh would continue to cherish his contributions and would like to reiterate that in the Bangladesh national and cultural space there is no scope for any divisive and motivated attempt to foment controversy on the subject," said the Bangladesh Foreign Ministry statement.

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