Clashes broke out on the final day of a three-day Urs festival at the shrine of Hazrat Shah Paran (R) in Sylhet between local residents, madrasa teachers and students, and followers of the Urs, including fakirs and deranged individuals.
At least 20 people were injured in the incident that occurred between 3am and Fajr prayer time early Tuesday. The army later intervened to control the situation.
According to eyewitnesses and police sources, the Urs began on Saturday at the shrine of Shah Paran (R).
On the day before the Urs, Friday, following Jummah prayers, a group of worshippers protested at the shrine gate against alleged drug use and immoral activities under the guise of music and festivities.
They demanded an end to these activities. In response, the shrine’s caretaker, Syed Kabul Ahmed, announced via a Facebook video that music would be banned at the shrine.
During the Urs, the shrine authorities, madrasa teachers, students, and local scholars closely monitored the situation to enforce this ban.
On the final night, around 3am, when the Urs was supposed to conclude with the final prayers and distribution of sweet treats, several hundred people expressed their anger over the music ban.
Some protesters were armed with sticks. During this time, a confrontation occurred between these individuals and the madrasa teachers and students present at the shrine.
The protesters reportedly attacked some teachers and students, and news spread that a faction of fakirs and their supporters had trapped madrasa teachers and students inside the shrine. This tension led to the clashes.
Witnesses, shrine authorities, and local residents report that teachers, students, scholars, and locals from neighboring Jaintiapur’s Haripur area and various madrasas in Sylhet Sadar Upazila came to the shrine.
Many were armed with sticks, leading to a confrontation with the shrine’s supporters. Both sides, including police, sustained injuries, and damage occurred, including broken glass in the caretaker’s room and looting of donation boxes.
During the clash, tents and shelters of the fakirs were destroyed, and many were chased away. While some fakirs fled, others were severely beaten. Eventually, those supporting the fakirs retreated, and by around 4:30am, the situation had calmed.
There have been conflicting reports regarding the cause of the violence. Madrasa teachers and students claim that drug users attending the Urs created chaos and then attacked and confined them.
On the other hand, fakirs allege that they were harassed and insulted without cause under the pretext of banning music, and were beaten during the clashes.
Shah Paran police station Officer-in-Charge Anup Kumar Choudhury said that the situation in the shrine area is now calm and no complaints had been filed at the station by 3pm on Tuesday.
Syed Kabul Ahmed, the shrine’s caretaker, said that Urs has been celebrated at Shah Paran's shrine for nearly 700 years. Previously, music was allowed with reverence, but recently it had been marred by drug trafficking and dance.
Consequently, music was completely banned. He added that during the final hours of the Urs, a third party seized the shrine’s microphone and declared that music would continue despite any opposition, inciting the fakirs and attacking madrasa teachers and students. This led to the arrival of additional madrasa teachers, students, and locals, resulting in the clashes, he added.
In response to the attacks on the shrine’s defenders, a protest rally was held at the shrine gate under the banner of the 'Anti-Social and Anti-Islamic Activities Prevention Committee'.
The rally, which took place at 3pm, was attended by agitated locals, scholars, and madrasa teachers and students, who chanted slogans such as "Burn down the den of frauds" and "Where have the fraudsters gone?"
