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Cultural Affairs Adviser Mostofa Sarwar Farooki has said fascism is not a part of politics as they (fascists) are the evil forces of the country.
“Barshobaran Ananda Shobhajatra is not a political programme . . . this year we used masks of fascists because they are part of politics,” he told journalists while inaugurating the Noboborsho Ananda Shobhajatra-1432 at Dhaka University on Monday.
The presence of such symbols in the procession does not portray politics, Farooki said, adding, “It is a cultural expression.”
The adviser said, “Historically, a particular political group used this Shobhajatra-1432 at Dhaka University to defeat their political opponents, though it is not anything political.”
“However, there are some historical political ingredients in this year’s Noboborsho observation, including the traditions of the Akbar era and the traditions of the Sultanate era, but there is nothing typical of politics here,” Farooki said.
Commenting on the renaming of the procession, he said Ananda Shobhajatra was started in the Fine Arts faculty in 1989. Later, in 1996, it was changed to Mangal Shobhajatra. This time, the authorities reinstated it again to 'Barshoboron Ananda Shobhajatra’, adding, “There was no incident of imposition, it was imposed earlier. The name was Barshoboron Shobhajatra in Jessore. When it came to Dhaka, it was named Ananda Shobhajatra. Afterwards, Mangal Shobhajatra was imposed.”
“This time, Fine Arts has decided to go back to the name with which the observation was started here,” he added.
Marking this year’s celebration as a big step towards cultural unity and integration among Bangladeshi people, he said Pahela Boishakh is not a festival of 'Bangalees'; rather, it is a festival of Bangladeshi people. This celebration was made a festival of only 'Bangalees', excluding the people of other communities.
“Pahela Boishakh is a festival of Bangladeshi people and is celebrated by all ethnic groups, including Bengalis, Chakma, Marma, and Garo. This year, we started celebrating it as a Bangladeshi festival, including people from all communities,” Farooki added.