Spring festival faces obstacles in Dhaka’s Uttara

POBNEWS24, Dhaka, Feb 14, 2025 : The coordinators of the anti-discrimination student movement did not allow the celebration of the spring festival of Bangladesh. Despite obtaining proper permission from the Dhaka North City Corporation (DNCC) and the Metropolitan Police (DMP), the ‘National Spring Festival Celebration Council’ could not hold the spring festival in the capital’s Uttara. Like every year, this event was supposed to be held at Bakultala of Dhaka University’s Fine Arts and Bahadur Shah Park in Old Dhaka as well as on the open stage in Uttara.
Although the festival at Charukula and Bahadur Shah Park was going well on Friday morning, the Uttara event had to be canceled.
A source from the organizers said that they tried to talk to the obstructers and convince them to do so at night. After one of the organizers was called an Awami League ally, he was asked to be removed from the organization, but in the end the festival was stopped.
In this regard, Manzar Chowdhury Sweet, General Secretary of the National Spring Festival Celebration Council, said, “We have applied to the Dhaka North City Corporation as per the rules, they have also given us permission. We have also paid the rent for the allocated venue. Permission has also been taken from the police. But due to the obstacles of the locals, we could not hold the event there today.” In this regard, the spokesperson of the Turag Police Station of the Anti-Discrimination Student Movement said that since the fall of the Awami League government, the Uttara Youth Welfare Association has been responsible for maintaining the open stage in Uttara.
His comment, “We have named this stage ‘Mir Mughd Mancha’ after August 5. But the people of the Spring Festival are introducing it as an open stage everywhere. We have been maintaining the stage for seven months.”
Meanwhile, Bangladesh Islami Chhatra Shibir has called for not celebrating World Valentine’s Day. The organization has requested not to hold any events, including concerts, on campuses on the occasion of Valentine’s Day.
Chhatra Shibir made this call on their verified Facebook page post on Thursday (February 13) evening. The photo card attached to the post read, “Valentine’s Day is not our culture. Say no to Valentine’s Day, develop a healthy culture.”
At 6:40 am on Friday, another photo card was shared from the Chhatra Shibir page, where it was said to the parents, “Respected parents, spend time with your sons and daughters. Do not leave your children alone.” Then at 9:27 am, the organization again said in another post that Valentine’s Day is not our culture.
This call by Chhatra Shibir has sparked discussion on social media. The organization has always taken a stand against the influence of Western culture. On the other hand, the trend of celebrating Valentine’s Day among young people is increasing day by day.
In this regard, the organization has said that Valentine’s Day has nothing to do with our own culture and values. Therefore, everyone must come forward to develop a healthy culture. Various reactions have been seen on social media, supporting and opposing this position of the organization.
However, the spring festival is being canceled and a storm of opposition to Chhatra Shibir is brewing in Bangladesh. A member of the civic organization said, “The organizations using the name of Islam think that Islam is the ancestral property of their fathers and grandfathers. This is their big fault. Leave Islam as a religion, you do politics in your own way. Don’t bring religion into politics.” He further said, “Religion cannot be taken as a dealership and religion (own ideology) cannot be forced on anyone in any way or forced on anyone. Everyone should have complete religious freedom. I will practice religion as I like, no one can stop me from doing so, no one can force me to teach religion, and many more… Even, if there are any atheists in this country, they will enjoy their full freedom, similarly if there are any Jewish followers, they will also enjoy full freedom. Simply put, no one can force anyone’s ideology on anyone else, everyone will respect everyone’s faith equally. No blasphemy will be acceptable. Everyone will suffer the consequences of their actions and will be accountable to their Creator for their actions. Simply put, whatever the name of your party, it should not have religion (ideologies like your own) or force it on the people, as Wahhabi Saudi Arabia does or Shia Iran does in their country.