On 5th August, Sheikh Hasina resigned from the post of the Prime Minister of Bangladesh following months of protests against her government and Bangladeshi Army took over the administration. Amidst the unrest in the neighbouring country, Islamists saw an opportunity to kill and torture the minority Hindus in the country and loot their properties. One of the most devastating stories coming from Bangladesh is of famous Bangladeshi singer Rahul Ananda whose house was looted and burnt down by an Islamist mob.
On the afternoon of 5th August, an Islamist mob reached the house of the singer and frontman of the band Joler Gaan, Rahul Ananda. He was living in a rental house that was attacked. When the attack happened, Rahul, his wife Shukla, his son Tota and other family members were there. Somehow, they managed to escape and took shelter at an unknown location. Saiful Islam Journal, founding member of Joler Gaan said, “Rahul Da and his family are shaken and take shelter in a secret place known to only a few. We could not contact him yet. It was not even his house, it was a rental he had been living in for decades. I came to know the incident happened around 4 pm. From what I have heard, a group of goons attacked the residence and Rahul Da, Shukla Di (Rahul’s wife), Tota (his son) and other family members somehow got out.”
Speaking to The Daily Star, a family source said, “As soon as they had broken the gate, they started ravaging the house taking whatever they could find for themselves. They took everything from furniture and mirrors to valuables. After that, they torched the whole house along with Rahul da’s musical instruments.” There were around 3,000 irreplaceable musical instruments at the house which he designed and made over the years. The monetary value of household items could be close to Tk 10 lakh, but Jarnal said, “But how could you put a price on the instruments which he so lovingly built?”
Sadly, some of the “friends” of the singer tried to whitewash the incident as an attack on a Hindu singer suggesting the attack took place because the house was adjacent to Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman’s in Dhanmondi 32.
On their Instagram account, the band posted a video comprising of old visuals of the instruments and the condition of the house post-attack. The video is heartbreaking, to say at least.
In a long Facebook post, they posted a song and wrote that Rahul’s house was not just his but of the whole team. They created several songs and many melodies there. It was the official studio of Water Music where the team did all the studio work including recording mixing and editing. The post read, “Maybe we can rebuild this musical instrument, song or arranged family in a long time. But, how can I extinguish this fire of anger and vengeance? Why can’t we conquer everything with love and affection? If I fail to come forward in the same way to protect the freedom I dream of, then I sing my song in a broken heart with extreme disappointment, humiliation and shame.”
Notably, in September 2023, France’s President Emmanuel Macron made a friendly visit to Rahul’s house making it a centre of attention across the country.
The house, where Rahul lived, was a 140-year-old place which has now been burnt to ashes with all the memories and history it contained.
