Tagore mural defaced at Khulna railway station; city corporation repaints it

A mural of the poet Rabindranath Tagore on the boundary wall of Khulna Railway Station in south-western Bangladesh was smeared with black ink, and two posters carrying anti-Tagore messages were put up beside it, according to reports from Bangladesh. The damage was noticed on Friday, 6 November 2026. Tagore's was the only portrait on the wall that was defaced. The administrator of the Khulna City Corporation (KCC) condemned the act after inspecting the site on Saturday, 7 November, and said the city corporation would repaint the portrait; an artist was photographed restoring it the next day. Police said those responsible had not yet been identified.

Tagore, the Nobel laureate poet, belongs to both Bengals. For many people on both sides of the border he is a central figure of a shared Bengali language, music and literature, so an attack on his image is felt by many as an attack on a common cultural inheritance. That is why cultural activists and citizens' groups in Bangladesh have spoken out after each such incident; after the earlier defacement in Dhaka, at least 37 prominent Bangladeshi citizens publicly expressed concern, according to reports.

The murals in Khulna were part of a city-beautification drive by the Khulna City Corporation, which painted portraits of eminent national figures on walls around the city, according to reports. That Tagore's portrait alone was targeted, and that posters disputing his legacy were placed next to it, suggests the act was aimed at him specifically rather than random vandalism. A local cultural activist told reporters he suspected an organised group was behind it; that has not been established by police.

The posters drew on a disputed claim that Tagore opposed the founding of Dhaka University. The reports did not say which group, if any, was behind the posters, and Peepals does not attribute the act to any community or party.

The quick response by the city corporation matters too. By condemning the act and repainting the portrait within a day, the local administration signalled that Tagore's image remains part of Khulna's public heritage.

Peepals timeline: on 10 October 2026 a graffiti mural of Tagore outside the Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy in Dhaka was defaced with black ink, and police detained four people in that case, according to reports; on Friday, 6 November, the Tagore mural at Khulna Railway Station was found smeared with ink, with anti-Tagore posters beside it; on Saturday, 7 November, the KCC administrator inspected the site, condemned the act and announced the portrait would be repainted; by Sunday, 8 November, an artist was at work restoring it while police tried to identify those responsible.

Short-term: The mural is being restored, and police are trying to identify the people who defaced it and put up the posters. Cultural groups in Bangladesh are likely to keep raising concerns about attacks on Tagore's image.

Long-term: Two similar incidents within a month, in Dhaka and Khulna, put the protection of shared cultural symbols on the public agenda in Bangladesh. How the authorities handle the cases will be watched by cultural organisations in both countries.

Who is affected: residents of Khulna and users of the railway station; Bengali-speaking people in Bangladesh and India for whom Tagore is a cultural figure; artists who painted the city's murals; and the Khulna City Corporation and local police.

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