PAHELA BAISHAKH : Restriction overshadows celebrations

Countrymen are set to usher in the Bangla New Year 1423 on Pahela Baishakh today as a government restriction on any outdoor programme after 5pm and protests against it overshadow the celebrations of the first day on the Bengali calendar.
People, irrespective of age, religion and ethnicity, usually usher in the Bangla New Year every year through colourful processions, songs and fairs, and many programmes run till late into the night, beginning at dawn.
Besides fairs and festivity, businesses start the day on a new ledger, closing out the last year’s one.
This year, however, Dhaka Metropolitan Police officially imposed a ban on any outdoor programme after 5pm in the capital, drawing widespread criticism from cultural activists and political leaders.
Nari Sanghati and Bangladesh Chhatra Federation on Wednesday jointly held a rally at Shahbagh protesting the restriction on Pahela Baishakh celebrations.
The rally was followed by a torch procession that went around the Shahbagh intersection.
Cultural organisation Sammilito Sangskritik Jote cancelled its programme at the Rabindra Sarobor in Dhanmondi today in protest against the government order to close all outdoor programmes by 5pm, according to a press release signed by its general secretary Hasan Arif Wednesday evening.
The DMP allowed SSJ to hold the programme on condition that it concludes by 5pm.
Meanwhile, home minister Asaduzzaman Khan on Wednesday urged the city dwellers to return home by evening today.
The authorities of Dhaka University, which is famous for holding programmes on Bangla New Year, meanwhile banned any kind of open concerts, use of loud speakers and band music on the campus, on the day.
The DMP and the DU authorities both banned the high-decibel horn ‘vuvuzela’ at programmes marking the occasion.
Earlier on April 3, the home affairs minister said outdoor events celebrating Bangla New Year in Dhaka and elsewhere in the country must end by 5pm.
Ruling alliance member Workers Party of Bangladesh president, and civil aviation minister, Rashed Khan Menon and general secretary Fazle Hasan Badshah on Wednesday said the ban was tantamount to ‘surrendering to religious fanatics and militants’.
The ban is a medieval decision meant to confine women to their homes after 5pm without allowing them to celebrate the Bangla New Year, said former adviser to the caretaker government Sultana Kamal The celebration of this Pahela Baishakh, however, would be more joyous for government officials as they have received a festival bonus of 20 percent of their basic salary, first time for the Bangla New Year.
Besides, officials and employees of autonomous bodies and government-owned banks are also getting the benefit.
The president, Abdul Hamid, the prime minister, Sheikh Hasina, the leader of the opposition in the parliament, Raushan Ershad, and the opposition BNP chairperson, Khaleda Zia, issued messages greeting the nation on the occasion.
Thousands of people in the capital Dhaka will gather at Ramna Batamul, the main venue of the celebrations, at sunrise, where cultural organisation Chhayanaut has been holding a music soiree there since 1965.
Fine arts teachers and students of Dhaka University will bring out a procession from campus called ‘Mangal Shobhajatra’ with traditional objects reflecting Bengali culture and heritage, in the morning.
The capital is set to put on a festive look, and, from early morning, people in traditional attire throng Baishakhi Mela and other gatherings at Suhrawardy Udyan, Shahbagh, Dhaka University campus, Rabindra Sorobar and other venues, to celebrate the day.
People of others districts will also arrange Baishakhi Mela, cultural programmes and other gatherings, to celebrate the day. Bangladeshis living in other countries will also celebrate Pahela Baishakh by holding fairs and cultural programmes.
While Bengalis celebrate Pahela Baishakh, the hill communities of the Chittagong Hill Tracts, hold the Boisabi celebration at the same time.
On Boisabi — a term formed by the first syllables of Tripura festival Boisuk, Marma’s Sangrain and Chakma festival Biju or Tanchangya’s Bisu — people welcome the new year.
The Bangla year with its first month Baishakh was introduced during the rule of Mughal Emperor Akbar.
The day is a public holiday.
Bangladesh Betar and all television channels will air special programmes while newspapers will publish special supplements.
Law enforcers fortified security to avoid any kind of untoward incidents during the celebration. Security has also been heightened in shopping malls, markets and business establishments in the capital.
Briefing reporters at Ramna in the capital after visiting the spot Wednesday afternoon, the DMP commissioner Asaduzzaman Mia said adequate security measures have been taken across the country for the Bangla New Year celebrations.
DMP officials said close circuit television cameras and foolproof security with dog squad, SWAT unit, bomb disposal unit, Rapid Action Battalion, and detectives will be deployed alongside police at the Ramna Park, Dhaka University Campus and Shahbagh area.
No one would be allowed to enter the area with handbags and purses and hawkers will be allowed only at Suhrawardy Udyan.
No one will be allowed to enter Ramna Park and Suhrawardy Udyan after 4:30pm and everyone should leave the area by 5pm.
The indoor programmes should also stop by evening.

News Courtesy: www.newagebd.net