Dhaka-Sylhet Highway Blocked in Brahmanbaria’s Bijoynagar Demanding Arrest of Rumeen Farhana

Bijoynagar, August 25, 2025: A protest and road blockade were staged on the Dhaka-Sylhet Highway in Brahmanbaria’s Bijoynagar, demanding the arrest and exemplary punishment of Barrister Rumeen Farhana, Assistant Secretary for International Affairs of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP). The demonstration was held in response to an alleged attack by Farhana’s supporters on leaders of the National Citizens Party (NCP) during a hearing at the Election Commission.

On Monday (August 25) at around 12 PM, locals blocked the highway at Dakbungalow Mor in the Chandura area of Bijoynagar Upazila. The blockade, lasting approximately half an hour, caused significant traffic congestion on both sides of the highway. The situation returned to normal after the peaceful conclusion of the protest.

Protesters alleged that during a hearing at the Election Commission, supporters of Rumeen Farhana, a nomination aspirant for the Brahmanbaria-2 (Sarail-Ashuganj) constituency, launched an unprovoked attack on NCP’s Senior Joint Chief Organizer (Southern Region) Md. Ataullah and his associates. In response, they demanded Farhana’s immediate arrest and exemplary punishment. The protest rally featured speeches by Md. Ataullah, NCP’s Senior Joint Chief Organizer (Southern Region), Engineer Mohammad Aminul Haque Chowdhury, Bijoynagar Upazila Chief Coordinator, Rashtu Sarker, a senior member of the Upazila BNP convening committee, Mizanur Rahman, a former student leader at Chittagong University, and NCP women’s leader Joyonti Bishwas, among others. Ataullah, in his speech, accused Farhana and her associates of suppressing freedom of expression through terrorist tactics in the name of democracy. He claimed that they turned the Election Commission hearing into a battleground, demonstrating a lack of trust in the people’s mandate. “My name was deliberately excluded from the hearing to manipulate the process. They don’t know that July’s warriors cannot be managed. We want to keep Bijoynagar’s 10 unions united, but Rumeen Farhana is secretly trying to annex three unions—Chandura, Budhanti, and Harashpur—to her constituency,” he said. He further alleged that Farhana became an MP through manipulated voting in the reserved women’s seat and enjoyed government privileges during that time. He accused her of spreading falsehoods about the Chandura, Budhanti, and Harashpur unions, which the people of Bijoynagar would not accept. The protesters warned that if Farhana is not arrested within the next three days, they will announce tougher programs.

The protest was in response to an attack on NCP leaders by supporters of Rumeen Farhana during a hearing on proposed constituency delineations for the 13th national parliamentary election.