Disruption over Rumeen Farhana laying wreath at Shaheed Minar, Dhaka-Sylhet highway blocked
Supporters of Rumeen Farhana, member of parliament for Brahmanbaria-2 (Sarail–Ashuganj and part of Bijoynagar), blocked the Dhaka–Sylhet highway following a disruption that erupted while she was laying a wreath at the Shaheed Minar.
The incident occurred in the Shahbazpur area of Sarail upazila of Brahmanbaria and continued from 12:30 am to 1:30 am on Friday night.
According to police and eyewitnesses, Rumeen Farhana arrived at the central Shaheed Minar premises in Sarail upazila headquarters at 11:50 pm on 21 February, marking Shaheed Dibosh (Language Martyrs’ Day) and International Mother Language Day.
Several hundred supporters accompanied her and some chanted slogans in her support upon her arrival.
Rumeen waited to lay flowers at 12:01 am. At that time, some leaders and activists of the BNP were seen booing them chanting “bhua, bhua” (phony, phony).
As the clock struck 12:01 am, she proceeded to place her wreath at the Shaheed Minar.
Simultaneously, Anwar Hossain Master, former general secretary of Sarail upazila BNP and current member of the district BNP, also approached to lay flowers.
Tension quickly spread between supporters of the two sides, resulting in disruption around the Shaheed Minar. Several individuals climbed onto the monument wearing shoes and some of the wreaths placed there were torn apart.
In protest, several hundred supporters of Rumeen Farhana blocked the Dhaka–Sylhet highway in the Shahbazpur area at around 12:30 am.
Armed with sticks, they set fire to tyres and halted all vehicular movement. During the blockade, they chanted various slogans against Anwar Hossain Master.
Members from Sarail police station and Khatihata highway police station arrived at the scene.
The protesters withdrew at approximately 1:30 am after officers assured them that lawful action would be taken. However, the one-hour suspension of traffic caused long tailbacks on both sides of the highway.
Speaking to Prothom Alo, Anisul Islam Thakur, president of Sarail upazila BNP, said, ‘Our party took a decision about laying flowers at the Shaheed Minar. We have made no other party decision beyond this. We will look into the matter.’
Jahangir Alam, officer-in-charge (OC) of Sarail Khatihata Highway police station, told Prothom Alo that traffic on the highway resumed normal movement after 1:30 am.
Notably, in the 13th National Parliamentary Election, Rumeen Farhana contested the Brahmanbaria-2 constituency as an independent candidate and secured victory with 118,547 votes under the ‘duck’ symbol.
Her nearest rival, Maulana Junaid Al Habib, candidate of Jamiat Ulama-e-Islam Bangladesh, a partner in the BNP alliance, received 80,434 votes under the ‘date palm tree’ symbol.
Rumeen Farhana previously served as international affairs secretary of the BNP. She lost her party position after contesting the election as an independent candidate in defiance of the party’s decision.