Poet and public intellectual Farhad Mazhar, along with a group of spiritual practitioners, Lalon followers and civil society representatives, has submitted an eight-point memorandum to the Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy, alleging that its ongoing Lalon-themed programmes misrepresent the mystic philosopher's spiritual tradition.

The memorandum was handed over to Shilpakala Academy Director General Sheikh Rezauddin Ahmed (Rezauddin Stalin) on Thursday, raising objections to the academy's "Purnima Tithir Sadhumela" and the week-long "Lalon Philosophy and Lalon Music Training Workshop", being held from June 29 to July 5.

According to the memorandum, the programmes fail to authentically reflect Lalon Shah's spiritual philosophy, the Fakiri tradition of Nadia and the guru-disciple lineage central to his teachings.

The signatories alleged that Lalon is increasingly being portrayed as a symbol of folk culture or a "Baul brand" rather than as a spiritual philosopher rooted in a living tradition. They also claimed that recognised spiritual leaders, residents of Lalon akhras and followers of Nadia's traditional "five houses" were excluded from the events.

The memorandum further questioned the selection process for workshop trainers, alleging that some participants had previously been accused of altering Lalon's songs, melodies and philosophical interpretations.

It also criticised the promotional materials used for the programmes, saying the images did not accurately represent practitioners of the Lalon tradition and could mislead the public.

Among the eight demands are ensuring the participation of recognised spiritual leaders in future state-sponsored Lalon events, publicly disclosing trainer selection criteria, assigning national-level Lalon research and training responsibilities to the Lalon Academy, consulting the spiritual community before organising such initiatives, ending what the signatories described as misleading portrayals of Lalon, and conducting an impartial investigation into alleged irregularities during the tenure of former Shilpakala Director General Liaquat Ali Lucky.

The memorandum concluded that distorting Lalon's philosophy amounts to distorting Bengal's spiritual heritage and urged the academy to take immediate corrective measures.