Man stages solo protest against Rajshahi MP

A man staged a solo protest today against "torture and harassment" by Rajshahi-3 lawmaker Md Ayeen Uddin and his aides.

Suranjit Sarker, a former Rajshahi AL member, hanging a placard from his neck, drew attention of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and demanded justice for his ordeal.

He stood at Saheb Bazar Zero Point for two and a half hours since around noon before some of the lawmaker's men drove him away, witnesses say.

He later took position in front of the Rajshahi Press Club where he stayed till filing of this report around 5:40pm.

Suranjit alleged that in February 2015, Ayeen Uddin, the lawmaker from Rajshahi-3 (Paba-Mohanpur), and his brother-in-law Abdus Salam used their men to brutally beat him.

Suranjit said he was then president of Mohanpur upazila unit of Hindu Buddhist Christian Unity Council and helped a local Hindu man in recovery of his land from illegal occupation of the lawmaker and his family members.

"This angered the lawmaker," he said, adding that he suffered injuries to his spinal cord in the attack.

In 2016, when Suranjit got the AL nomination for Raighati union parishad elections, the lawmaker and his men opposed him and he failed the polls. In 2021, when he went to seek nomination for the union parishad elections, the lawmaker drove him away.

He said he went to many local and central AL leaders and police, but none cooperated with him. He said he is bringing this up now as the PM is due in Rajshahi on January 29.

"The PM would certainly enquire about local politics before coming to Rajshahi. I thought she would also hear my voice," said Suranjit.

Contacted, Ayeen Uddin denied the allegations.

"Suranjit was tortured by his fellow Hindu men over land issues," he said. "I managed funds for his treatment. But he became insane and turned against me."