Friends stage ‘protest’ after not being invited to wedding
“If you needed money, you could have taken it from us — but you still should’ve invited your friends!”— chanting such slogans, a group of friends staged a mock protest with banners and festoons after not being invited to a close friend’s wedding.
The demonstration took place Fiday afternoon at Daulatdia Model High School and on the Dhaka–Khulna Highway in Goalanda upazila of Rajbari. Videos of the incident have since spread across social media.
According to the friends, Shakil Sheikh, a student of the SSC 2015 batch of Daulatdia Model High School and a resident of the local Nuru Mondolpara area, got married last Thursday. His friends had helped arrange the match and convince both families about the marriage.
Although the wedding had earlier been planned with them, Shakil went ahead and got married without informing them, prompting the symbolic protest, said his friends.
On Friday afternoon, several of Shakil Sheikh’s friends gathered on the grounds of Daulatdia Model High School carrying banners and festoons reading, “If you needed money, you could have taken it from us — but you still should’ve invited your friends!” organised by the SSC 2015 batch of Goalanda.
Around 4:00 pm, they assembled at the school field before moving to the Dhaka–Khulna Highway near Shakil’s house, where they chanted various slogans.
One of Shakil’s friends, Mishkat Sardar, said, “Shakil is a very close friend of ours. We often joke about his eating habits whenever we attend different social events with him. Everyone gives him treats one way or another, but Shakil has never treated anyone. So we decided we would really enjoy ourselves at his wedding feast.”
“We were the ones who convinced his family and even the bride’s family about the marriage. Three days ago, one friend found out that the wedding was supposed to be on Friday. But he got married the previous day, on Thursday, without telling us,” said the friend.
“So 14 or 15 of us got together and arranged a procession and a khichuri feast. Even though Shakil kept calling on our cellphones afterwards, none of us answered. We organised the event as a symbolic protest, purely for fun,” Mishkat explained.
One of the main organisers of the protest, Ainal Ahsan, said, “Even though we were not invited, we conveyed our best wishes and prayers for the newlywed couple on behalf of all the friends.”
Speaking about the incident, Shakil Sheikh said, “They are all very close friends of mine. We took their protest in good humour. I could not invite my friends because my mother was ill. However, I do plan to bring everyone together soon. I never imagined the matter would spread across social media like this. To be honest, it feels a bit uncomfortable now.”