Harassing Lagnajita for not singing ‘secular’ song: Organiser held

KOLKATA: Bengali singer Lagnajita Chakraborty was allegedly assaulted on stage for not singing a ‘secular’ song during a programme at Bhagwanpur in East Midnapore on Saturday. The accused, Mehboob Mallik, has been arrested.

According to the complaint filed by the ‘Bawshonto Eshe Geche’ singer, Mallik, one of the owners of South Point Public School, where the programme was held, objected to her singing ‘Jago Maa’, a song from the recently released Bengali film ‘Devi Chowdhurani’. He allegedly insisted that only “secular songs” be performed, which led to a confrontation.

‘Jago Maa’ was the seventh song in her set. Before starting the eighth song, Lagnajita was interacting with the audience when Mallik objected. According to the complaint, the situation then escalated, with Mallik going up on stage and allegedly attempting to assault the singer.

Speaking to the media later, Lagnajita said the police and the administration had cooperated with her. “He almost came onto the stage and tried to hurt me. The school authorities were recording the entire programme. Anyone who wants can check the footage with them,” she said.

“I have another programme next week in Arambagh, and I will sing ‘Jago Maa’ again,” she added.

Last December National Award-winning singer Iman Chakraborty was asked at a programme in Rajarhat to sing only Hindi songs. She had then firmly rebuked an audience member for demanding that Bengali songs not be sung at a concert in West Bengal.