Published: 12:32 AM, 02 June 2026
Rumeen Farhana slams suspending film show
Rumeen Farhana, Member of Parliament form Brahmanbaria-2, addresses a human chain protest on Sunday organized against the cancellation of the film's screenings at two venues in Brahmanbaria due to opposition from a group of people. The human chain was held beside the highway in Shahbazpur Union of Sarail Upazila. -AA
Member of Parliament Rumeen Farhana has alleged that those who want to take Bangladesh backward, plunge it into darkness, and turn it into a fundamentalist state are the same people who prevented the screening of the film "Bonolota Express" in Brahmanbaria.
She made these remarks on Monday while participating in a human chain protest organized against the cancellation of the film's screenings at two venues in Brahmanbaria due to opposition from a group of people.
The human chain was held beside the highway in Shahbazpur Union of Sarail Upazila.
On Saturday, ahead of Eid-Ul-Azha, the Brahmanbaria Film Society had arranged a screening of Bonolota Express. However, on Thursday and Friday, a campaign was conducted on Facebook under the banner of the Qawmi Chhatra Oikya Parishad calling for the screening to be stopped. This sparked considerable discussion and criticism online.
Following this, an emergency meeting was held on Friday afternoon at the office of Jamia Islamia Yunusia Madrasa in Brahmanbaria, organized by the District Qawmi Oikya Parishad under the direction of the district's leading Islamic scholars. The meeting was chaired by Maulana Ali Azam Qasemi, adviser to the Qawmi Oikya Parishad and general secretary of the district chapter of Hefazat-E-Islam.
Speakers at the meeting alleged that a conspiratorial group was attempting to spread anti-Islamic content and obscenity in Brahmanbaria through the film screening. The meeting decided that the screening should be prevented.
Following this incident, on Sunday, an individual took the initiative to organize a screening of the film at a school field in Kasba Upazila. However, it was allegedly shut down after police and local administration officials intervened.
In protest against these actions, MP Rumeen Farhana joined Monday's human chain.
Addressing the gathering, Rumeen Farhana said "Brahmanbaria is often called the cultural capital of Bangladesh. Yet in that very Brahmanbaria, the Sangeetangan of the legendary musician Ustad Alauddin Khan was set on fire in 2021. There is not a single cinema hall in Brahmanbaria, and no cultural institution is being allowed to survive here. Who is carrying out this dark agenda? Those who want to drag Bangladesh backward, into darkness, and transform this country into a fundamentalist state."
She continued "A film that is completely suitable for the whole family to watch-Bonolota Express-has had its screening stopped. I watched the film yesterday; it is an excellent movie. Why was it stopped? If I may ask: a state that cannot protect six-year-old children from rape and sexual abuse, a state where more than two people are murdered every day, a state that has failed to stop corruption, misgovernance, money laundering, bank looting, and killings-why does that same state support banning a film?"
Claiming that right-wing extremism has been on the rise in the country over the past two years, Rumeen Farhana said "From our experiences over the last two years, we have seen one shrine after another being demolished. We have seen corpses exhumed from graves and burned. We have witnessed the rise of right-wing extremism. But this was never the character of our country. In this land, we have heard the beautiful call to prayer, and we have also heard Baul songs. In the mornings, we have heard Quran recitation, and in the afternoons, we have seen young children learning music with harmoniums. So who are these people trying to turn Bangladesh into a land of fundamentalism?"
She added "In a state where religious practice has coexisted with all forms of cultural activities, the suppression of cultural activities amounts to supporting a push toward darkness. I demand that the authorities immediately ensure that all kinds of cultural activities in Brahmanbaria can take place safely and without obstruction. My appeal to the administration is this: do not allow any group to erase Brahmanbaria's identity as the cultural capital of Bangladesh."
Rumeen Farhana also said "We want to state clearly that just as the Liberation War of 1971 did not belong to any particular group or party but was a people's war involving ordinary Bangladeshis, the mass uprising or movement of 2024 also saw people from all walks of life take to the streets. Those who seek to monopolize a mass movement or a people's movement have not met with good outcomes in the past, and they will not in the future either."
In the latest elections, Rumeen Farhana contested the Brahmanbaria-2 parliamentary seat as an independent candidate and won. She defeated Junaid Al Habib, the candidate nominated by the Bangladesh Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam and backed by the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), by a margin of 38,000 votes.
