Bangladesh ushers in spring with calls for unity and equality

The Basanta Utsab, or spring festival, is being celebrated in the capital with a message of unity and a call for a Bangladesh built on principles of fairness and equal rights.

The event began on Friday with a performance by the Bengal Parampara Sangeetalay at the Dhaka University Fine Arts Faculty’s Bakultola.

Like every year, the Jatiya Basanta Utsab Udjapon Parishad, or National Spring Festival Celebration Council, has organised festivals at several locations across the city, including at Bakultola and Old Dhaka's Bahadur Shah Park.

However, the event at the open stage in Uttara Sector-3 was cancelled due to unforeseen obstacles, according to the organisers.

Cultural performances for the festival began in the morning at the Fine Arts Faculty and Bahadur Shah Park, where attendees, many dressed in vibrant colours, gathered on the first day of Falgun -- the month that marks the arrival of spring on the Bengali calendar.

Suraiya Tabassum brought her daughter from Dhanmondi to enjoy the festivities. “I used to attend the Basanta Utsab during my university days. This time, I’ve brought my daughter and it feels wonderful.”

From morning to noon, the venues were filled with dance, music and recitations. Along with performances from cultural groups, various ethnic communities also showcased their traditions, captivating the audience. The event also featured recitations of poems and prose on spring while participants smeared each other with coloured powders, a customary part of the celebration.

"We organise this festival to spread the message of equality, just as nature does," said Manzar Chowdhury Sweet, general secretary of the National Basanta Utsab Celebration Council.

"Like a garden filled with various flowers, it is the diversity that makes it beautiful. Through this festival, we want to send the message that many flowers should bloom. May Bangladesh be a land of harmony, equal opportunity and freedom from discrimination."

Kajal Debnath, vice-president of the celebration council, reflected on the unfulfilled dreams of the Liberation War.

“Flowers don’t bloom for any one person, they bloom for everyone. This is the message of equality. Nature sends us a message of equality. Spring is called the 'king of seasons,' and through this festival, let the message of equality spread.”

"I was 21 during the Liberation War, and today, the youth who dream of an equal Bangladesh carry the same vision. We fought to create an egalitarian society, but that dream has not been fully realised. Now, through this movement, we once again dream of an equal Bangladesh. May that dream be fulfilled. This is our hope for the spring festival."

He lamented the cancellation of the event in Uttara, calling it a regrettable incident.

The event was hosted by Naila Tarannum Chowdhury Kakoli and Ahsan Dipu.