Photos of home minister, police chief, RAB DG's palanquin rides go viral

Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal, Inspector General of Police Mohammad Javed Patwary and Rapid Action Battalion Director General Benazir Ahmed have created a social media storm by taking rides on palanquin at a Bangla New Year programme.

Staff Correspondentbdnews24.com
Published : 21 April 2018, 04:50 PM
Updated : 21 April 2018, 04:55 PM

A group of palanquin bearers carried Kamal, Javed and Benazir one by one to the stage as they (the bearers) were singing the hymn, traditionally sung when bride and groom are taken to the wedding ceremony in rural Bangladesh. 

The elite force RAB organised the event at its headquarters in Dhaka’s Uttara on Saturday to welcome the Bangla New Year 1425. RAB-3 coordinated the programme.

The RAB says they brought many traditional things like palanquin and puppet show to add some colours to the celebration and the minister and chiefs of the law-enforcing agencies took the palanquin rides on the bearers’ request.    

As the photos of the three riding the palanquins went viral on the social media, and the comments started to pour in.

The reactions were mixed. Some criticised the minister and the law enforcers for riding palanquin while some others supported the trio for replicating the 'Deshi' tradition.  

Journalist Quddus Afrad posted a photo of the event on Facebook.

“Riding on some others’ shoulder is awkward in our social and cultural atmosphere,” he wrote. 

AKM Rezaul Karim commented, “It’s barbaric. Why should a human being ride other human beings’ shoulder?”

Journalist Nadira Kiron, however, sees no problem in riding a palanquin for a while on special occasion.

“It may seem to be meaningless, but I think there is nothing negative or awkward about it,” she wrote.

One Imran H Sumon supported her views, saying "it’s natural to ride palanquin on the special occasion".

“I asked those who are objecting to the palanquin ride of the home minister, IGP and RAB DG not to ride a rickshaw ever, even if you pay for this,” he wrote.

RAB spokesperson Mufti Mahmud Khan told bdnews24.com: “We brought many traditional things here to add festivity to the celebration. We brought many things like the snake charmer, monkey tricks, puppet show, husking pedal, pottery etc..”     

“They (minister, IGP, RAB DG) rode palanquin on request of the bearers. The honourable minister, IGP and RAB director general rode palanquin to make the bearers happy,” he added.