Singer Lagnajita Chakraborty was allegedly abused and heckled at a concert by a man dubbed a “Trinamool worker” who demanded she sing “secular” songs.

Lagnajita, known for her Left-liberal views, had just finished singing Jago Maa from the film Devi Chowdhurani when Mehaboob Mallik accosted her on the dais on Saturday evening.

Mallik, co-owner of the South Point Public School in Bhagabanpur, East Midnapore — the venue of the concert — was arrested on Sunday on the basis of a police complaint the singer had lodged the previous night.

The accused Mehaboob Mallik

The BJP sought to create a political controversy, harping on the religious identities of the singer and the accused and accusing Trinamool of encouraging “jihadists” to turn Bengal into a “Bangalistan”.

Trinamool said it had nothing to do with Mallik, whom its political opponents across the spectrum described as a Trinamool worker without an official post.

The district police have launched a departmental probe against the Bhagabanpur police station OC, Shahenshah Haque, for his alleged delay in accepting Lagnajita’s complaint.

The 34-year-old singer has complained that Mallik had stormed the stage midway through the concert, yelled at her and tried to snatch the microphone, apparently intent on hitting her. He allegedly demanded that she sing “secular” songs.

A picture of Lagnajita's written complaint to the police

Eyewitnesses said the disruption occurred around 7.45pm, when Mallik aggressively approached the singer and shouted: “Onek Jago Maa hoyechhey… ebar secular kichhu ga (Enough of Jago Maa, now sing something secular)!”

Mallik’s fellow organisers intervened and dragged him off the stage. A shaken Lagnajita stopped her performance, apologised to the audience and left the venue. She lodged a complaint at the local police station before returning to Calcutta.

Speaking to reporters on Sunday, she wondered how music could be branded “religious” or “secular”.

“I cannot imagine that a song like this can be labelled along religious lines. This has happened for the first time in my 11-year-old career as a professional musician,” the biotechnology graduate from St Xavier’s College, Calcutta, said.

The song, written by Ritam Sen with the music composed by Pranoy Chakraborty, speaks of resistance to oppression, with invocations of “Maa” that may be deemed as allusions to either the motherland or a Hindu goddess. It’s sung in the film as a duet by Lagnajita and Shiladitya Chakraborty.

Sources said the local police had initially attempted to persuade her to “adjust”.

A poster of the event where Lagnajita was assaulted

However, a BJP news conference on Sunday morning seemed to jolt the administration into action, and Mallik was promptly arrested.

His brother, Masud Mallik, accused the singer of having turned difficult when the start of the event was delayed by several hours, and asking for more money than initially agreed.

“Yes, she was singing a religious song when she was asked to sing secular songs,” Masud said.

Lagnajita dismissed the allegation of trying to negotiate a higher payment.

Mitunkumar Dey, acting chief of the district police, said: “The accused has been arrested and is being produced in court. An investigation is under way.”

He added: “A departmental inquiry has been initiated against the officer in charge of Bhagabanpur police station, with an SDPO-level officer conductingthe probe.”

He later told this newspaper that Mallik was being questioned and the charges against him had not been decided yet.

In an inflammatory statement, Sankudeb Panda of the BJP accused Trinamool of allowing “jihadists” to decide which songs could be sung in Bengal, and alleged efforts to turn the state into another Bangladesh.

Trinamool spokesperson Arup Chakraborty condemned the incident, distanced the party from the accused, and said chief minister Mamata Banerjee had an uncompromising stand on secularism and tolerance for all religions and cultures.

He accused the BJP of politicising the incident by invoking the religious identities of the singer and the accused.

Congress working committee member Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury and CPM central committee member Sujan Chakraborty accused both Trinamool and the BJP of injecting communal poison into Bengal’s socio-cultural climate forelectoral gain.

“This is not my Bengal…. Why should a song be (branded) religious or secular... and why should an artiste be harassed? It’s time to become more alert than ever,”Sujan said.

A state BJP insider said the party would try to turn the incident into an election plank.

“A Bengali Hindu, Brahmin woman, assaulted on stage by a Trinamool-linked Muslim man in Bengal, for singing a Hindu devotional song — this is a goldmine for us,” he said.

“Our magnanimity would also be duly underscored, because she has been a fierce critic of the BJP and the RSS.”

The singer swatted away such suggestions, refusing to be part of any attempt to paint the incident in communal colours. “No. Simply, no.… That’s not it at all,”she said.

Lagnajita reaffirmed her faith in India’s secular democracy and Bengal’s syncretic traditions, which she said had historically drawn on diverse religious and philosophical streams without imposing rigid boundaries between the sacred andthe secular.

“I will sing this song again, on December 26 in Arambagh. I’m not afraid. I’m sure our police, our administration, will do the needful to prevent any recurrence of such crimes, against me or anybody else,” she said.

“This has made me more resolute about speaking out against all attempts atdivisiveness.”