What didn't happen in 15 years happened today: Rumin Farhana

During the Election Commission hearing on the redrawing of constituency boundaries for the 13th National Parliament elections, a clash erupted between two factions of the BNP. At the hearing, BNP’s Joint International Secretary and former MP, Barrister Rumin Farhana, accused members of her own party of attacking her.

On Sunday (24 August), at the hearing held in Agargaon, Dhaka, Rumin Farhana presented her case in favour of including the Brahmanbaria-2 constituency. However, several local BNP leaders opposed the inclusion of three unions from J. Bijoynagar into that constituency. This disagreement quickly escalated into heated arguments and eventually physical altercations between the factions. Election Commission officials and police later intervened to restore order.

After the hearing, Rumin Farhana told journalists, “What hasn’t happened in 15 years happened today. Someone tried to push me and throw me down. If this kind of behavior occurs within the party before the elections, one can only imagine what might happen during the vote.”

She further alleged that the candidate for Brahmanbaria-3 and his supporters acted like ‘thugs and hooligans,’ behavior unbecoming of the commission’s dignity.

Meanwhile, reports claim that three leaders of the NCP were injured during the clash. Responding to this, Rumin said, “Whether they were NCP-Jamaat members or thugs and goons, we don’t know.”

Tensions also flared outside the Election Commission building during the hearing, prompting police to disperse protesters and prepare water cannons.