Kolkata: Bengali theatre artist Subhankar Dassharma has alleged that he was brutally assaulted near Shyamnagar railway station in West Bengal’s North 24 Parganas district after a group of men allegedly targeted him because they believed he was Muslim based on his black kurta and pyjamas.
In a detailed Facebook post, Dassharma said the incident occurred around midnight on July 28 while he was returning home after a theatre performance. According to him, four men stopped him and questioned his religious identity after noticing his attire.
Dassharma said the men repeatedly asked whether he was Muslim. In response, he told them, “What if I am a Muslim?”, arguing that in a free and sovereign country he was under no obligation to disclose his religion to strangers. He alleged that the confrontation quickly turned violent after he refused to answer as demanded.
According to his account, the men dragged and assaulted him while repeatedly demanding to know his religion. He claimed that when he eventually told them he was Muslim, they beat him mercilessly, striking his eyes, head, ears and chest while chanting “Jai Shri Ram.” He further alleged that his black kurta was torn during the attack and that he briefly lost consciousness.
After regaining consciousness, Dassharma said he managed to return home but spent several days coping with severe physical pain and psychological trauma. A photograph shared by the theatre artist shows his left eye swollen shut along with visible bruising on the left side of his face, which he said were injuries sustained during the alleged assault.
Initially relying on telephonic medical consultations and painkillers, Dassharma later sought hospital treatment when his condition failed to improve. On August 2, he visited B.N. Bose Sub-Divisional Hospital, where doctors reportedly referred him to specialists after finding serious injuries to his eye, ear and ribs. He subsequently underwent treatment in the ophthalmology, orthopaedics and ENT departments. According to Dassharma, doctors diagnosed an eye injury and a perforated eardrum.
Explaining why he remained silent for several days, Dassharma said he feared for his safety and initially hoped the matter could be resolved locally, as he continues to live in the area. He said only a few close friends were informed and requested not to publicise the incident.
“I have overcome my fear. Once fear is gone, it no longer has any hold over you,” he wrote, adding that he decided to speak publicly after seeing abusive comments directed at his sister on social media.
The alleged assault has drawn strong reactions from members of West Bengal’s theatre community. Theatre activist Joyraj Bhattacharya cited Martin Niemöller’s famous poem First They Came while criticising what he described as the silence of sections of the theatre fraternity in the face of violence.
Bhattacharya alleged that some theatre practitioners prefer to remain “safe” rather than stand in solidarity with victims. Referring to Dassharma, he wrote, “Shubhankar has been beaten. Brutally beaten.”
Bhattacharya initially announced plans to stage a lone protest outside Kolkata’s Academy of Fine Arts and symbolically repaint a room that had been painted saffron. However, he later said veteran theatre director Seema Mukhopadhyay had urged him to allow more time for a broader collective response. Accepting her advice, he said he would postpone both the protest and the symbolic repainting.
As of now, authorities have not publicly responded to Dassharma’s allegations.