Rumeen Farhana Under Fire in Brahmanbaria
Photo: Agamir Somoy
MP Rumeen Farhana has come under fire after organising a human chain protest against the ban on screening the film Bonolata Express in Brahmanbaria on Monday. Accusing her of insulting Islam and making provocative statements, a human chain was held against her on Tuesday in Sarail.
The program was organized under the banner of "Conscious Islam-Loving People." Activists and leaders of the district's Hefazat-e-Islam were seen participating. The human chain took place in the afternoon on the Dhaka-Sylhet highway in the Shahbazpur area.
Speakers included Junayed Kasemi, youth affairs secretary of Hefazat-e-Islam's Brahmanbaria district committee; Ershad Ullah Kasemi, student affairs secretary; and Haji Mohibul Islam, vice-president of Sarail upazila Hefazat-e-Islam.
They alleged that during a human chain organized yesterday over the Bonolata Express film issue, independent MP for Brahmanbaria-2 constituency, Barrister Rumeen Farhana, made derogatory comments. They claimed she mocked Islam, the call to prayer (azan), and religious sermons (waz-mahfil).
The speakers strongly protested the MP's remarks and called on her to refrain from making statements that hurt religious sentiments. They also warned that any mockery of Islam would be met with strong resistance.
On Monday afternoon, a human chain and protest rally was held in Shahbazpur, Sarail, against the ban on screening Bonolata Express. Speaking there, Barrister Rumeen Farhana said: "Brahmanbaria is the cultural capital of Bangladesh. No group will be allowed to erase this identity... The state that cannot stop child rape and molestation, cannot stop corruption, money laundering, and bank looting — why is that same state helping to ban a film screening?"
She commented at the rally: "Bonolata Express is a film that families can watch together. Yet its screening has been banned. This is not just about banning a film; it is an attack on cultural practice."
The MP also alleged that extremist tendencies have increased in the country. "In the last two years, we have seen one shrine after another being vandalized, corpses dug up from graves and burned. We have also witnessed the rise of right-wing extremism. But the soil of Bangladesh was never like this," she said.
She added: "In this country, just as we have heard the recitation of the Quran in the morning, it was also common to see children being taught music with a harmonium in the afternoon. Alongside religious practice, cultural activities — this is the heritage of Bangladesh." She then questioned: who is trying to push Bangladesh towards fundamentalism?
