Drama cancelled for political reasons, not religious: Police
Police claim that the cancellation of the play in Kapasia Upazila of Gazipur was due to political reasons. The police also said that there was no religious reason behind the cancellation of the play.
A post about the incident was posted on the Facebook page of the police headquarters on Friday. The news published in various media outlets about the incident was described as ‘misleading’.
The police Facebook post said that around 10 am on April 3, a rehearsal was held at Raniganj Udayan Sangha ground of Kapasia police station in Gazipur district to stage a play called ‘Apon Dulal’ ahead of Eid. The people of the market were conducting this rehearsal under the leadership of Shamsul Haque, joint convener of Durgapur Union Jubo Dal. Police say that since the play was organized by local BNP junior leaders, there was a risk of trouble with the party’s senior leaders. Later, through a compromise between both parties, Durgapur Union Jubo Dal joint convener Shamsul Haque was banned from staging the play at the request of former Upazila Chairman and BNP General Secretary Khandaker Azizur Rahman. After that, the participants in the play obeyed their senior leader and refrained from staging the play.
Stating that there was no incident of stage breaking on the day of the incident, the police said that the participants in the play refrained from staging the play on the basis of compromise due to the fear of internal conflict between local junior and senior leaders of BNP.
The police’s Facebook post said that some newspapers are spreading misleading news about the issue. Apart from this, he said that the quote published in the newspapers by Imam and Khatib Azizul Haque of Raniganj Bazar Mosque did not say it.
Police say that the Kapasia issue is mainly a political issue, not a religious issue. Everyone is requested not to be confused in this matter. The Gazipur Superintendent of Police (SP) said that legal action is under process in this regard.
Links to related news from five media outlets, including Prothom Alo, were provided below the police Facebook post. These reports were claimed to be ‘misleading’.
The news published in Prothom Alo on the cancellation of the play was based on the statements of the imam of the local Raniganj Bazar Mosque, the president of the Raniganj Bazar Mosque Committee, and a local theater worker associated with the play. However, the Prothom Alo report did not mention any stage being broken.
Theater worker Khandaker Shahadat Hossain told Prothom Alo about the incident that they were sitting in the market last Wednesday night. At that time, the imam of the Raniganj Bazar Mosque, Md. Azizul Haque, the president of the mosque, Md. Sirajul Islam, and some worshippers came and forbade them from staging the play. They said that the play should be closed here forever. After that, the stage and pandal prepared for the play were taken away by the decorators by 9 am on Thursday.
In this regard, the imam of the Raniganj Bazar Mosque, Md. When talking to Azizul Haque, he told a reporter from Prothom Alo on Thursday that local religious devotees and dignitaries requested the drama organizing committee not to hold it due to fear of having a bad impact on the youth. Later, both parties sat down and discussed and decided to cancel the drama. Everyone decided to hold a prayer meeting there.
After that, the president of Raniganj Bazar Mosque, Md. Sirajul Islam, also told Prothom Alo, “We, the devotees and dignitaries of the society, have decided to stop the drama.”
