No one has ever been born who could stop me — Rumin Farhana

Barrister Rumin Farhana, an independent parliamentary candidate for the Brahmanbaria-2 constituency—comprising Sarail, Ashuganj, and parts of Bijoynagar—has delivered a fiery and uncompromising message to voters, asserting that no force can deter her political journey. A former Assistant International Affairs Secretary of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), Farhana has emerged as a prominent and controversial figure in the ongoing election contest.

Addressing local residents during an election campaign in Kuchni Budda village of Noagaon Union, Sarail Upazila, on Tuesday afternoon (6 January), Farhana spoke with unmistakable candour. She declared that having endured political pressure and intimidation for five years under the Awami League government led by Sheikh Hasina, she now fears no individual or institution. In her words, she has already survived the worst, and therefore “no one on earth” can silence her.

Farhana went on to criticise what she described as the entrenched culture of corruption and opportunism in local politics. She lamented that electoral politics has increasingly become a commercial enterprise, where candidates are “hired” and public service is treated as a means of rapid personal enrichment. Without naming individuals, she condemned practices such as extortion, land grabbing, illegal sand extraction, and coercive business takeovers—activities she argued alienate ordinary citizens and corrode public trust.

Reiterating a stance she says she has maintained consistently, Farhana vowed to speak out against injustice for as long as she lives. She pledged zero tolerance for extortion rackets, land seizures, and what is commonly known as “case trading”—the manipulation of legal cases for political or financial gain. “Whoever commits wrongdoing, I will speak against them,” she told her audience, positioning herself as a voice of moral resistance rather than political convenience.

The political backdrop to her candidacy is equally dramatic. Farhana had sought the BNP’s official nomination for Brahmanbaria-2. However, the party instead endorsed Allama Junaid Al Habib, Assistant Secretary-General of Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam Bangladesh, as the alliance candidate. Following her decision to contest the election as an independent—defying party discipline—Farhana was expelled from the BNP on 30 December, losing both her primary membership and her position within the party’s national executive committee.

Despite this setback, Farhana appears undeterred, campaigning vigorously and framing her candidacy as a stand against political corruption and moral compromise.

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