The ancestral home of Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore in Bangladesh’s Sirajganj district was vandalised earlier this week following a confrontation between a visitor and museum staff, prompting strong condemnation from leaders across the political spectrum in West Bengal.
The incident took place at the historic Kachharibari, now a museum known as the Rabindra Memorial Museum. According to local reports, a dispute broke out between a visitor and staff at the entrance over a parking fee for a motorcycle. The visitor was allegedly confined to a room and physically assaulted, which led to a local outcry. A mob reportedly stormed the premises, damaging property and attacking officials. The site has since been closed to the public, and authorities have launched an investigation.
West Bengal Leader of Opposition Suvendu Adhikari blamed the attack on activists of the BNP and Chhatra Shibir in a post on social media. “The sacred legacy of our most precious Kobiguru Rabindranath Thakur was desecrated in Sirajganj, Bangladesh… This shameful and utterly disgraceful act of destruction targeted a site that embodies Bengal’s cultural soul and Tagore’s universal message of humanity,” he posted.
Adhikari said he also raised the issue at the Snan Yatra celebration of Jagannath Dev at the Indian Council for Cultural Relations in Kolkata on Monday. He called the incident a “wake-up call” for Hindus in West Bengal. “When extremist forces gain ground, they spare no one; not even a figure revered worldwide like Tagore. The attack on Kachharibari is not just an assault on a building—it’s an attack on our shared heritage, our identity, and our values,” he continued in his post.
He also referred to areas in West Bengal such as Malda, Murshidabad, and Maheshtala, claiming that “demographic changes” were putting cultural sites at risk. “The BJP is committed to safeguarding our cultural roots… The way things are going ahead in West Bengal, mimicking the rampage of Radical Islamist Forces with the aid and abetment of the (Chief Minister) Mamata Banerjee government, if there is no course correction in 2026, then similar vandalism will happen in Jorasanko Thakurbari and Santiniketan in a few years’ time,” he alleged.
The Trinamool Congress also condemned the attack. “We strongly condemn the vandalism of Kobiguru Rabindranath Tagore’s ancestral home in Bangladesh’s Sirajganj district. Gurudev is a symbol of Bengal’s cultural heritage and a global icon of literature and humanism,” the party said in a statement. “Such acts of disrespect are an affront to every Bengali’s identity and pride. We urge the Central Government to take cognizance and initiate bilateral dialogue so the culprits are brought to justice. Our icons are not collateral damage for mob fury.”
BJP state president Sukanta Majumdar also criticised the incident, calling it “shameful” and “outrageous”. In a post on X, he said: “Even the ancestral home of Nobel laureate and global icon Kabiguru Rabindranath Tagore is not spared—vandalised under the rule of Mohammad Yunus in Bangladesh… This attack is not just on a building—it is a direct assault on the soul of Bengali identity, on the legacy of free thought, and on the very symbol of art and intellect. One question echoes out loud — is Tagore now a ‘criminal’ too in Bangladesh, simply because he was a Hindu?”
On Tuesday, the museum auditorium was vandalised and one of its directors reportedly assaulted. Md Habibur Rahman, custodian of the Kachharibari, told local media that the site had been shut temporarily due to “unavoidable circumstances” and that the entire premises was now under official surveillance.
Located in Shahzadpur in Bangladesh’s Rajshahi division, the two-storey Kachharibari building was constructed by Tagore’s grandfather, Dwarkanath Tagore, in 1840. Rabindranath Tagore spent considerable time at the estate, where he composed many of his literary works.