Miscreants smeared black ink over a mural of Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore at Bangladesh’s Khulna Railway Station on Friday.
The incident took place on the boundary wall along Old Jessore Road.
Khulna City Corporation had recently commissioned the artwork ahead of Prime Minister Tarique Rahman’s scheduled visit.
The project celebrated regional icons, the 2024 July uprising, the Sundarbans, and the historic Sixty Dome Mosque.
It featured portraits of Michael Madhusudan Dutt, Fakir Lalon Shah, artist SM Sultan, Kazi Nazrul Islam, Ziaur Rahman, and Khaleda Zia.
Vandals targeted only Tagore’s portrait, leaving the surrounding artworks untouched.
Officer-in-Charge Lokman Hossain confirmed that Khulna Sadar Police Station launched an immediate investigation into the crime.
He noted that nearby business closures on Friday complicated early efforts to identify the culprits or establish the exact timing.
The defacement sparked sharp outrage among local residents and public officials.
Khulna City Corporation Administrator Nazrul Islam Manju condemned the perpetrators for exposing a narrow and sick mentality.
Cultural activist Shariful Islam Salim suspected an organized group of orchestrating the attack deliberately.
He recalled similar acts of vandalism in Dhaka and warned that extremists might target other eminent personalities next.
Salim emphasized Tagore’s role in shaping generations toward free thought, secularism, and human dignity.
He urged citizens to unite against the misguided individuals carrying out these disgraceful acts.
This vandal attack follows a near-identical incident last month outside the Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy in Dhaka.
That earlier defacement prompted 37 prominent Bangladeshi citizens to issue a joint statement of grave concern.
They warned that unpunished attacks risk emboldening religious extremists and deepening communal tensions across the country.
The signatories compared the recent hostility to 1960s Pakistani propaganda that painted Tagore as anti-Muslim.
They declared language, art, and culture as common human heritage that transcends religious or ideological divides.
Authorities continue to search for suspect leads surrounding the railway station property.
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