Author: Alastair Lawson in Dhaka
Publication: BBC News
Date: May 8, 2001
Police in Bangladesh have stepped
up security at arts and cultural centres associated with the revered Bengali
author and poet Rabindranath Tagore.
The authorities say that they fear
the centres may be subjected to bomb attacks by elements they describe
as opposed to secular Bengali culture.
Tuesday is the 140th anniversary
of the birth of Tagore, whose name means the same to many Bengalis as Shakespeare
does to the English.
He is venerated for his poems, prose
and song.
Secular legacy
Yet there are elements in the country
who are opposed to Tagore's largely secular legacy.
The government accuses hardline
Islamic groups of venting their hatred against Bengali culture by instigating
a series of bomb blasts over the last two years at cultural festivals.
Last month, 10 people were killed
in a bomb attack while celebrating Bengali new year in Dhaka.
The bomb went off as a musician
was singing one of Tagore's songs.
In January, there was a similar
bomb attack at a meeting of the Bangladesh Communist Party in Dhaka.
Islamic groups
No-one has claimed responsibility
for either of these attacks, but a poem published in most newspapers on
Tuesday by one of the country's most celebrated writers, Shamsur Rahman,
strongly hints that radical Islamic groups are to blame.
Written in the form of a open letter
to Rabindranath Tagore, the poem bemoans the undermining of Bengali culture
and arts by intolerant elements.
Mr Rahman said in an interview with
the BBC that Rabindranath Tagore's legacy was being attacked and must be
resisted.
The emotions stirred in Bangladesh
at the mention of Tagore's name to some extent go to the heart of the debate
about the country's future.
There is much discussion as to whether
Bangladesh will assume a more overtly Islamic character, or whether it
will continue to take pride in Bengali culture and traditions over and
above religious sentiment.
