A video of an elderly man, most likely homeless, forcibly having his head shaved has gone viral on Facebook, sparking widespread condemnation and protests across social media.
In the video, several men dressed in white panjabis and turbans are seen carrying out the act as the elderly man tries to escape their grasp.
Despite the elderly man’s pleas and protests, none of the onlookers take any action. Eventually, the man is forced to sit on the ground while one of the men use a trimmer to shave his head clean of his long hair.
The exact location of the incident remains unknown as of writing this report.
‘Who will you seek justice from?’
Journalist Arifuzzaman Tuhin shared the video, adding a brief note that reads, “Who will you seek justice from?”
He wrote, “I watched this video reluctantly, and I couldn’t bring myself to watch every second of it. Once, I thought I was very brave. I’ve endured tear gas and police baton charges easily. I used to dream of armed revolution. Now, I don’t see any of that. Instead, I see an elderly man, almost mad, being stripped of his dignity as his hair is cut by these people, who then invite him to pray with them.”
“No one has the authority to decide who goes to heaven or hell, but we have taken this responsibility upon ourselves: ‘I am cutting his hair to make him a Muslim.’ Has he ever said he follows your way? This humiliation, this torture of the elderly man, I just can’t bear it. Truly, I cannot,” Tuhin wrote.
‘Let this extremism end’
As of Thursday afternoon, the video had been shared more than 3,500 times, with over 1,000 comments strongly condemning the actions of the panjabi-clad men.
In the comment section, one commenter wrote, “These fake religious leaders, instead of praying, what kind of hypocrisy are they engaging in? How do they find so much time to be involved in such acts instead of praying?”
Another user wrote, “The country has turned into another Pakistan… oppression in the name of religion everywhere.”
Professor Kaberi Gayen from the Department of Mass Communication and Journalism at Dhaka University shared a screenshot from the video, writing, “I am deeply ashamed. I am terrified.“
“Cutting a person’s hair like this is not just about religious extremism, it’s also about power. It’s a class issue,” she said. “Let this extremism stop. How much longer will we have to witness this?”
Director-General of the Press Institute of Bangladesh (PIB) Farooq Wasif expressed his protest through a poem:
Writer and activist Firoz Ahmed said, “I must say that these acts of violence are not something new. They’ve always existed. However, after 5 August, 2024, I have been increasingly worried about mob violence. I can clearly see that a certain political ideology is using the name of Islam to further their political agenda.”
