Barrister Rumeen Farhana, the independent Member of Parliament for Brahmanbaria-2, has threatened the BNP with dire consequences, as she was obstructed and assaulted by a mob of the local BNP while attempting to pay tribute at the Shaheed Minar in Sarail Upazila during the early hours of Martyrs’ Day and International Mother Language Day.
The incident occurred around midnight when Rumeen Farhana arrived at the central Shaheed Minar in Sarail to lay a floral wreath in honour of the Language Movement martyrs as per the Warrant of Precedence. Accompanied by several hundred supporters, she faced immediate disruption from local BNP activists, who reportedly chanted “fake, fake” slogans targeting her. As she approached the memorial, tensions escalated into chaos.
Her wreath was torn apart, supporters were pushed and shoved, and the sacred site descended into unruly behaviour, with some individuals even climbing the monument with shoes on—a profound desecration of a national symbol of sacrifice.
Rumeen Farhana, daughter of Language Movement veteran Oli Ahad, described the episode as a premeditated attack orchestrated by defeated rivals, including elements linked to her electoral opponents. She alleged physical harassment, being pushed aside in a manner that nearly caused her to fall, and claimed the disruption was led by a known local figure associated with BNP.
In protest, her supporters blocked the Dhaka-Sylhet highway at Shahbazpur around 12:30am, setting tyres ablaze and halting traffic for about an hour, leading to significant jams. Police intervened, and normal movement resumed by 1:30am after assurances of legal action.
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In the February 12 election, Rumeen Farhana contested as an independent candidate from the Brahmanbaria-2 constituency under the “duck” symbol and won with 118,547 votes. Her closest rival, Maulana Junayed Al Habib, the candidate from Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam Bangladesh (a partner in the BNP-led alliance), received 80,434 votes under the “date palm” symbol.
Rumeen Farhana previously served as the Assistant International Affairs Secretary of the BNP but did not get a party ticket. When she filed nomination papers as an independent candidate, the party expelled her.
Speaking at a discussion meeting in Ashuganj upazila on Saturday, organised for Martyrs’ Day and International Mother Language Day, Rumeen Farhana delivered a strong warning: “The unruly behaviour displayed by activists last night (the first hour of February 21) will spread to other constituencies if not addressed. If BNP chooses to ignore this incident (the obstruction in wreath-laying), it will not end well for them. This is my clear message.”
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She lamented the pervasive politicisation of national events, stating: “Unfortunately, we inject politics into everything. Whichever government comes to power rewrites history in its favour, turning figures into either gods or devils—leaving ordinary people nowhere in between.”
She also criticised the incomplete and distorted portrayal of the Language Movement in textbooks, calling it a national shame.
The same day, Jatiya Party (JaPa) leaders were barred from paying tribute at the Central Shaheed Minar by some thugs of the National Citizen Party (NCP), a key ally of opposition Jamaat-e-Islami, the radical Islamist party that paid tribute to the Language Movement martyrs for the first time in 74 years.
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