Peaceful Human Chain Held in Bhanga, Faridpur, in Protest of Parliamentary Constituency Separation

 Md. Sakhawat Hossain, Faridpur District Correspondent:

The residents of Bhanga held a peaceful human chain to protest the separation of the Algi and Hamirdi unions from Faridpur-4 constituency and their inclusion in the Faridpur-2 constituency, which includes Nagarkanda and Saltha.

The peaceful human chain was held on Monday (September 22) afternoon at the Shuadi bus stand in Bhanga Upazila.

People from all walks of life, including men, women, and children, were seen participating in the peaceful human chain. Speakers at the event said, "We will continue to hold a peaceful human chain to press our logical demands until they are met. We will not be stopped by intimidation, cases, or attacks."

The speakers further stated, "We will continue our peaceful human chain until our demands are met, as long as a single drop of blood remains in our bodies."

It is worth noting that a few days ago, a gazette was published to change the boundaries of the constituencies. According to the gazette, the Algi and Hamirdi unions of Bhanga Upazila were separated from the Faridpur-4 constituency and included in the Faridpur-2 constituency, which consists of the Nagarkanda and Saltha Upazilas. Previously, the Faridpur-4 constituency was composed of the Bhanga, Sadarpur, and Char Bhadrasan Upazilas.

In protest of this decision, the situation in Bhanga has been volatile for the past few days. Locals have been carrying out various programs, including road and rail blockades. They claim that this redrawing of boundaries will harm them socially, politically, and economically.

The protesters have stated that if their demands are not met, they will announce more strict programs in the future. Although the blockade has been suspended for now after discussions with the Deputy Commissioner, they are back on the streets with a peaceful human chain as the problem has not been solved. A writ petition has also been filed in the High Court regarding the incident. Locals say that additional police and a joint force are patrolling the roads to keep the situation under control.