ARC Calls on Government of Bangladesh to Protect the Baul Community

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

5 December 2025

(NEW YORK) – ARC – Artists at Risk Connection calls on the Government of Bangladesh to take all necessary measures to protect the physical safety of Baul singers in the country. This must include immediately dropping the charges against prominent Baul singer Abul Sarkar, and directing the police to cease from criminalizing artistic and religious expression. Sarkar, a renowned Baul singer, was arrested on November 20 at a music show in western Madaripur and charged with “deliberately provoking riots or violence” and with “hurting religious sentiment.” Police arrested the singer after a criminal complaint was filed by an imam along with four others, claiming Sarkur insulted Islamic beliefs in his recent performance. On 23 November, members of the Baul community who were protesting for Sarkar’s release outside the Manikganj prison, where he was detained, were injured after being attacked by members of Tawhidi Janata–a loosely organized religious extremist group. 

“For more than a year since widespread public unrest led to the end of the Awami League government, religious extremists in Bangladesh have brazenly escalated their attacks on cultural institutions, groups, and individual artists,” said Julie Trébault, ARC’s Executive Director. “The Government of Bangladesh, despite all the challenges it is facing, must take decisive actions to protect artists—particularly those from minority groups such as Baul singers—and must ensure that the law is never weaponized to suppress artistic freedom and religious expression. The continued failure to protect its citizens, including artists and those belonging to religious minorities, jeopardizes the country’s future and undermines efforts to move beyond the abuses of the past.”

Although Shafiqul Alam, Press Secretary for the Chief Advisor to the interim government, has denounced the attacks and stated that the government has ordered the arrest of perpetrators of the violent attack on the Baul singers, there is little evidence that significant action has been taken to protect this vulnerable group. 

Over the last year, Tawhidi Janata activists have attacked and disrupted cultural gatherings and demolished multiple shrines of Muslim Sufi saints, who historically preached moderate Islam in the region, as well as carrying out attacks on minority and particularly Hindu communities. The government has failed to respond to these extrajudicial attacks, despite the fact that they are carried out in public and with photos and videos shared on social media. Following the attack outside the district court, members of the mob were reported chanting slogans calling for the slaughter of Bauls.

In response to the arrest and attacks, more than 250 Bangladeshi artists, cultural figures, academics, intellectuals, and other civil society activists denounced the targeting of the Baul community and demanded action from the government. On 30 November, students at Jahangirnagar University organized a musical event featuring prominent Baul singers to protest the targeting of the community and to show solidarity. On 3 December, more than 600 artists and cultural figures rallied in Agartala to protest the recent attacks and demand the immediate release of Sarkar.

Baul musicians have been targeted for more than a decade, since religious extremist groups started targeting cultural, artistic, and intellectual figures in Bangladeshi society in 2011. In addition to physical assaults and harassment, Baul musicians have been repeatedly subjected to criminal claims brought against them by religious extremists, claiming that the Baul singers hurt religious sentiments or religious values, which is criminalized under the country’s notorious Digital Security Act. Rita Dewan, a popular Baul singer, has had at least four such cases filed against her, while Shariat Sarker, another Baul singer, spent seven months in prison after he was arrested under the act in January 2021. Despite the change in government, attacks by extremist groups persist, while local authorities continue to criminalize the singers.

Bauls are musicians and performers from the Sufi mystic tradition. In 2005, UNESCO proclaimed the Baul artistic genre a “Masterpiece of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity.” Baul music was later inscribed in 2008 on UNESCO’s Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity: “Baul music represents a particular type of folk song, carrying influences of Hindu bhakti movements as well as the shuphi, a form of Sufi song. The songs are also used by the spiritual leader to instruct disciples in Baul philosophy, and are transmitted orally.”

About ARC

ARC – Artists at Risk Connection is an international organization committed to promoting and advancing the right to artistic freedom worldwide. Founded in 2017, ARC works to protect artists and cultural workers who are at risk because of their creative expression, often connected to their identities or roles within their communities. By providing vital resources and support, ARC helps artists at risk overcome challenges like persecution, censorship, threats, and violence from both state and non-state actors—whether for their artistic expression or the broader impact they have on cultural, social, and political issues.

For press inquiries, please contact:

Adam Shapiro
Deputy Director, Programs
ARC – Artists at Risk Connection
+1 202-294-8813