Explanation of canceled Bangladeshi festival in Warren causes more confusion

Warren Mayor Jim Fouts insists the city did not cancel a Bangladeshi festival because it was too “ethnic,” but organizers of the event say his explanation doesn’t add up.

Fouts says the city notified members of the Bangladesh Association of Michigan (BAM) earlier this month that they could not hold the festival from July 22-24 because another organization with the same name had already booked a similar event at Warren City Square on the same dates.

Fouts claims one of the groups is “legitimate” and the other, which supported his political opponent Patrick Green, is not.

“We booked two groups and they both have the same name,” Fouts tells Metro Times. “We’ve had two warring factions of the Bangladeshi Association of Michigan. We were caught in the middle, and the legitimate Bangladeshi Association of Michigan is the larger group.”

State records show that the group being denied the festival is a legitimate nonprofit that is incorporated with Michigan.

That group signed a rental agreement with the city in February to use Warren City Square and paid a $1,000 deposit to hold the Bangladeshi American Festival.

Earlier this month, Sumon Kobir, secretary of BAM, says he received a phone call from Parks and Recreation Director Dino Turcato, who told him the city wasn’t interested in an “ethnic” festival at Warren City Square, where other events are regularly held. 
During the phone call, Kobir says Turcato never mentioned another group had booked the space. Kobir also says he believes there is no second BAM group.

“This is really an excuse,” Kobir tells Metro Times. “I asked what the reason [for the cancellation] was, and they clearly stated they were not going to give the spot to any ethnic group. It makes us feel like we don’t belong in Warren.”

Asked when the other alleged group signed a rental agreement with Warren, Fouts says he did not know. He also failed to provide evidence that the other group had signed a rental agreement.

Nevertheless, Fouts says the group that he considers “legitimate” will be permitted to hold the festival. If that group allows the other one to join in, they can both hold the festival, Fouts says.

“I want all the groups to get together and have a united festival, but if there is an impasse, I’m going with the legitimate Bangladeshi Association of Michigan,” Fouts says.

Metro Times was unable to verify that a second Bangladesh Association of Michigan existed. Fouts’ office provided Metro Times with a certificate of renewal of registration for a second group, but it was dissolved in 2013, according to the Michigan Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs.

This is the second year in a row that Warren canceled the Bangladeshi American Festival. Last year, Kobir says, the city canceled the festival after the mayor’s office received several phone calls from people complaining about the festival. Kobir says the mayor also accused the group of working with Green, who is running for mayor of Warren this year.

“I didn’t even know who Patrick Green was then,” Kobir says. “We can choose our candidates. It’s our constitutional right.”

Kobir says his group plans to take legal action against the city.

“He’s shutting us down wrongly, and we have no choice but to take it to court,” Kobir says. “He shut us down because we’re too ethnic. What happened to us is wrong. It should never happen to any ethnic group in America.”

The festival’s cancellation prompted the Warren City Council last week to begin drafting an anti-discrimination ordinance.

In an interview with Metro Times, Fouts volunteered that he’s not racist, saying he’s the first Warren mayor to appoint a Black person and Muslim to the city’s administration.

“Jim Fouts is not George Wallace or Adolf Hitler,” Fouts says. “I would not have gotten elected four times if people legitimately believed I was a bigoted or hateful person.” 
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