Rashid Sarker’s ‘Sadhu Mela’ disrupted due to local resistance. Rashid Sarker’s ‘Sadhu Mela’ Disrupted Due to Local Resistance in Singair, Manikganj. The ‘Sadhu Mela’ of the late Baul artist Rashid Sarker was disrupted in Singair, Manikganj, due to resistance from locals.
Rashid Sarker’s ‘Sadhu Mela’ disrupted: On Friday afternoon, tensions arose when locals obstructed the two-day fair in Azimpur of the municipality.
Singair Police Station Officer-in-Charge (OC) Zahidul Islam told  “Tensions escalated between the followers of Faqir Mawla Darbar Sharif and locals over Rashid Sarker’s ‘Sadhu Mela’ on Friday.”
Later, for security reasons, police took Rashid Sarker’s wife, Shirin Rashid (60), and his elder son’s wife, Shahanara Akter (37), to the police station.
The OC also confirmed that no official permission was granted for the fair.
According to some followers of the Darbar, locals from Gobindal and nearby areas attacked them.
A video circulating on Facebook showed locals holding sticks, while followers of the Darbar were seen taking a counter-stance.
Baul artist Anwar Sarker told “Rashid Sarker held the ‘Sadhu Mela’ in Azimpur for 25-30 years while he was alive. Hundreds of devotees had gathered for the event today, but people from Gobindal and others disrupted it.”
Jamil Khan, a devotee of the Darbar, claimed, “Locals from Gobindal, along with BNP leader Mithu Chairman and a former mayor, arrived and obstructed the fair. At that time, Darbar followers also took a stance against them.”
Mahbubur Rahman Mithu, General Secretary of the Upazila BNP and former UP Chairman, told “What fair? This is a drug fair. More than five tons of marijuana are consumed here. We cannot allow a drug fair to take place. Today, locals marched to the location of the fair.”
“We brought the locals back. They had been enraged about this for a long time and finally went there today,” he added.
Baul Rashid Sarker passed away on February 21, 2009. He was later buried at the Azimpur Faqir Mawla Darbar Sharif, alongside his parents and mentor Anwar Dewan.
After Rashid Sarker’s passing, the annual fair on February 21 was organized by his elder son, former Singair municipal mayor Abu Naim Md. Bashar.
However, since August 5, Naim Bashar has been in hiding.
