‘Voting for Sheaf of Paddy’: A village under siege

An entire village in Rajshahi’s Tanore upazila have been paying a heavy price since Sunday’s general elections when majority of the villagers voted for the BNP candidate.

On Monday morning, stick-wielding Awami League men took position at the two entry points of the village — at Billi and Dargadanga intersections — and barred all types of vehicular movement on the road through the village. They did not even allow bicycles or rickshaw-vans to pass through the points, villagers have alleged.

The village, Kolma, falls under Rajshahi-1 and has 2,435 voters. Kolma Government Primary School was the voting centre for the villagers.

In Sunday’s election, the total vote cast at the centre was 1,914 — five of which were cancelled. Of the 1,909 valid votes, 1,249 went to BNP candidate Aminul Haque and 653 to AL candidate Omor Faruk Chowdhury.

So on Monday morning, local AL men sealed the entry points. They also captured the deep tube-wells used for irrigation and snapped satellite television connections to households, locals alleged.

The villagers, including a senior AL leader, blamed Kolma Union Parishad Chairman Lutfor Haider Rashid and young members of the party for the situation.

Lutfor denied his involvement in the siege, and claimed people were not coming out of their village fearing attacks by BNP men.

“Buses are avoiding the route for the same reason,” he claimed.

Things turned a little tense in the village the day before the election, locals said.

On Saturday afternoon, some AL men armed with hockey sticks damaged the tin wall of the house of union member Shafiqul Islam, known as a BNP man.

In response, BNP supporters chased Lutfor Haider, who was sitting at a tea stall, and beat up some of his supporters in the evening.

Locals alleged Lutfor’s men were “punishing” them for Saturday’s incident and also because most people there voted for the BNP candidate, who eventually lost the election.

Out of fear, locals are not even sending their children to schools, they claimed.

For example, on Wednesday, two brothers of the village — both school teachers — were beaten up when they were returning home from school.

This correspondent met one of the two brothers yesterday afternoon.

“It was our internal matter. I have nothing to complain,” he said and quickly left. He requested to not publish his name.

At 5:00pm yesterday, this correspondent saw a passenger bus avoid its route through the village. Instead, it took the road that runs through neighbouring Korchor village.

“The situation is normal,” claimed Ataur Rahman, an AL worker.

He said normalcy returned since yesterday morning when the additional superintendent of police and the Tanore UNO visited the village and assured locals of security.

But villagers said they had no faith in such assurances.

“Road communication has not restored, irrigation machines still remain captured [by the AL men],” said a businessman, asking not to be named.

Additional SP Motiur Rahman Siddiki told The Daily Star that local AL men were indeed holding the people hostage, but over “Saturday’s attack and counter-attack”.

“The village is dominated by the BNP and there is a tension between the two groups [AL and BNP],” he said, adding that they asked both groups to show restraint.

Rajshahi deputy commissioner and the police superintendent are expected to visit the area today.