Rabindranath Tagore’s statue was not vandalized by protestors in Bangladesh. Old image went viral with a false claim.

In the ongoing violence in Bangladesh, there are reports of attacks and vandalization of properties. Against this backdrop, an image of the head of Rabindranath Tagore’s statue is going viral on social media. 

Users are claiming that students in Bangladesh vandalized the statue of Rabindranath Tagore, who once wrote the country’s national anthem. 

However, Fact Crescendo found the claim to be false. The viral image is from 2023. The statue of Rabindranath Tagore was damaged when Dhaka University removed it. 

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Fact Check- 

A Google Reverse Image Search led us to the same image uploaded on Pune Mirror’s website on 18 February 2023. According to the report, the sculpture of Rabindranath Tagore was removed from the Dhaka University campus which the students had constructed. The head of the sculpture was found by a passerby at the premise of a book fair. 

What was the incident? 

Dhaka University had banned the books in the ‘Amar Ekushe Book Fair’. A symbolic statue of Rabindranath Tagore was erected by the Dhaka University Students’ Union in protest against the university’s decision. The mouth of this statue was covered with tape with books in hand. 

The authorities removed the sculpture which was later found in bits and pieces in a garbage dump. These pieces were again collected by students and the sculpture was reinstalled.

Dhaka Tribune

Conclusion: 

Fact Crescendo found the claim to be false. Rabindranath Tagore’s statue was not vandalized by protestors in Bangladesh. This is during an old incident when Dhaka University removed his sculpture in 2023.