Entertainment Desk:

Film actress Apu Biswas was supposed to inaugurate a restaurant in Kamrangirchar area of the capital recently but she couldn’t attend the event in the face of obstruction from a mob. Earlier, actress Mehazabien Chowdhury faced similar obstruction in Chattogram while, Pori Moni was obstructed in Tangail. All three incidents took place within a span of just three months.

The scheme seems to be the same in each of these cases. A group of people are objecting to the news of the actresses’ presence and are foiling the event. The organisers are being forced to exclude the artistes. Informing the police isn’t proving very helpful either.

While Apu Biswas and Mehazabien Chowdhury didn’t address the issue directly, Pori Moni didn’t keep silent. On 25 January, this actress wrote in a Facebook post, “How can anyone remain so silent? Feeling deprived of freedom. Why should the artiste face so much obstruction? Feeling insecure. Why aren’t we safe in this free country?”

Referring to incident involving Mehazabien, Pori Moni wrote, “What are they trying to prove in the name of religion? What more can I say? Shut every medium of entertainment including cinema in this country then. We all would be held responsibility for this.”

WHAT’S HAPPENING

Actress Apu Biswas was supposed to inaugurate that restaurant located at Kholamora Ghat area in Kamrangirchar on last Tuesday. So, what actually happened? One of the owners of the restaurant, Saikot Khan this Thursday that after they announced the news of Apu Biswas’s visit some people went to Kamrangirchar police station and stated about their objection regarding Apu Biswas.

But when asked who the people were that had complained, Saikat Khan said he has no knowledge of that. While speaking on the topic, officer-in-charge of Kamrangirchar police station Amirul Islam this Wednesday, “Pro-Islamists had protested on Facebook. They had stated that they would create chaos if Apu Biswas was invited to the inauguration. I have also found screenshots of such writing on Facebook.”

“The matter has been reported to the deputy commissioner as well. The restaurant owners had also come to me. They said if the pro-Islamists object to inviting Apu Biswas over, we won’t invite her. We are here to do business and we’ll have to be in touch with these people. We are better off without disputes with anyone,” he continued.

Saikat Khan said the restaurant was later inaugurated in the presence of local dignitaries excluding Apu Biswas. On condition of anonymity, a upazila nirbahi officer (UNO) said, “From my field level experience, I can say that there’s usually local politics involved in such incidents.”

WHY FEMALE ARTISTES’ ARE TARGETED ONLY

After analysing such incidents from three months, it has been found that no news of any male celebrity being obstructed has been reported so far. Basically, it’s the female celebrities that are being barred.

On the issue, associate professor of sociology at Dhaka University Samina Luthfa Thursday, ”You have also seen that female footballers are not being allowed to play. The way female celebrities are being stopped is the same. Women are being tried to stop. There are attempts to impose a sort of majority opinion in various other ways.”

“The people of Bangladesh did not accept it before nor will they accept it now. I believe none of this will succeed actually. Bangladesh moves forward through a number of social arrangements. It’s not that just because a group of people say something or resort to some kind of violence, the public will accept it,” she added.

Director Ashfaque Nipun said, “This type of politics has been going on since long before. This is the politics of stopping any woman who’s successful. Some pro-religion political communities are doing these out of a sort of insecurity. They are really scared of the concept of liberal women and modernistic society. So, they want to subdue that.”

Theatre activist Samina Luthfa said, “What’s more important than if it’s a male or female artiste is that they are artistes. When they are going to inaugurate an establishment, what’s the reason for stopping them? Are they loan defaulters or have they stolen and laundered money abroad? That’s not the case at all. They are artistes. And artistes should be given their due respect.”

MUST BE FOILED

In Ashfaque Nipun’s narrative, “After overthrowing the dictator, everyone is thinking they are free. Many are failing to understand that there is actually a difference between freedom and doing whatever you want. What they are doing is the later one.”

Samina Lutfa believes that these people are feeling encouraged by the lack of visible action against it. She said, “Since the state or the government is not taking up a strong enough role or the people are not seeing it, they are getting some kind of encouragement. It’s very important to ensure that they do not get this encouragement. The way attempts are being made from a special quarter to stop women artistes, it must be resisted. And, it’s the responsibility of the government.”

Director Nipun believes that it is important to resist them socially alongside thwarting them from the state. He said, “Whether it’s an interim government or an elected one, they should keep in mind that such mobs need to be resisted in any case. Women have to be provided with security. Socially, it’s our responsibility to resist them without being scared of these.”

‘Abhinay Shilpi Shongho’, an organisation of drama actors, is also raising its voice against this. The issue was supposed to be addressed in the general meeting of the organisation Thursday. A veteran actor from the association speaking on condition of anonymity Thursday, “Such incidents are never acceptable. Even shooting units are being obstructed in some places. These are making us feel alarmed. We will issue a statement about it.”