When the gates of Chhayanaut opened yesterday afternoon, there was no usual chirping of children or the familiar strains of music drifting through its

When cultural institutions crumble, archives burn, and instruments shatter, it is not merely walls that vanish—it is memory, identity, and moral courage. Culture cannot be revised; it is what history has written. Every assault upon it shakes the quiet foundations of a nation’s conscience.

The organisers said the programme seeks to reaffirm the role of music and culture as powerful tools of protest, resilience, and communal harmony in the face of intolerance.

Nearly every room was vandalised, property was looted, and parts of the building were set on fire. Police and army personnel arrived shortly after the incident, brought the situation under control, and extinguished the flames. Members of the Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) were also present at the scene.

Within the scarred walls of Chhayanaut, the repair of a broken harmonium is more than a maintenance task, it is an act of institutional defiance.

The desecration of Chhayanaut, Bangladesh’s preeminent bastion of music and Bengali culture, has prompted an urgent political intervention from one of the nation’s most celebrated musicians, Shayan Chowdhury Arnob.

The case was lodged over vandalism, looting and an attempted arson attack at the cultural institution

The prolonged blaze destroyed the buildings along with valuable assets and important documents stored inside.