Bonolota Express has been a movie that’s been hyped all over the country. After the success of films like Utshob, thousands flocked to theatres across the country to watch the film which was met with great reception. However, one district in the country could not get the same enjoyment as the rest.
Brahmanbaria is a district which is often called a district where many Alems(religious scholars) hails from. It’s also a district where Qaomi related groups and other religious groups hold a lot of power; enough power to shut every cinema hall in the district down. So, when Bonolota Express was about to be screened in the district by a group called “Brahmanbaria Film Society”, it faced resistance from local Qaomi groups, and this caused a huge backlash in social media. However, one man remained defiant and wanted to organize a private screening for Bonolota Express in his own village. This time however it wasn’t Qaomi groups who ended up shutting down the event, rather it was the local police, local police who by now only answer to the local elected government which is run by BNP.
This begs the question: is the current ruling party (BNP) doing enough to combat extremism in Bangladesh or are they enabling it? The fact that films cannot be screened in a district did not get any condemnation by the Ministry of Cultural Affairs is something that’s condemnable. At the end of the day, BNP is in cahoots with lots of political groups who are linked with Qaomi related organizations. When the Prime Minister of a country posts about watching cinema in a theatre in Dhaka whilst people of a district are deprived from the same enjoyment, it raises a lot of questions which need to be addressed and answered.
A significant number of people voted BNP this time expecting they would curtail the rising extremism seen in the previous few years. Yet, said extremism is not curtailed rather promoted by the same law enforcement agencies the government controls. Mob violence has still persisted in this country, something BNP campaigned hard to stop yet even after a public beat down of a university professor Nirnoy Islam from BRAC University- nobody from BNP condemned the action.
One of the most significant voices in parliament who talked about the Brahmanbaria censorship issue was MP Rumeen Farhana who led a public protest against the ban of “Bonolota Express” in her home district by local groups. The fact an independent minister is voicing out her concerns whilst the government remains silent puts a bad look on the government and makes people who voted for them feel disappointed in their inability to stop extremism in the country.
At the end of the day, extremism in this country might not be pushed or supported by local people or a majority but by small fringe groups who feel empowered because the law enforcement agencies either enable them or do little to curtail them.
