A Hindu woman named Lata Samaddar in Bangladesh has been harassed and abused by the police cops for wearing a bindi (dot on the forehead). The bindi can be regarded as a Hindu symbol, but can also be worn as a cultural symbol by people who don’t believe in Hinduism.
AMN / WEB DESK
Noted actor and ruling Awami League parliamentarian Subarna Mustafa has demanded action against the police personnel who harassed a female college teacher for wearing Bindi.
Speaking in the national parliament Jatiyo Sangsad on Sunday, Subarna Mustafa asked if there is any clause in the constitution of Bangladesh that prohibits wearing of Bindi on their forehead? She said that no law restricts women from wearing what they consider fit.
She said that it is shameful when someone from the law enforcement agency plays the role of an eve-teaser by taunting a woman wearing Bindi. She termed the incident disgraceful going beyond party identity as it concerns the women community.
Parliamentarian and social activist Aroma Dutta said that she completely echoes the sentiment of Subarna Mustafa on this issue.
She said this unfortunate incident is more than harassment. It is preventing people from practicing their own culture as women have worn Bindi and jewellery for thousands of years in this country. Such incidents are not expected in a secular state like Bangladesh, said Aroma Dutta. She however said that the incident reflected the mindset of an individual and not of the law enforcement agency of Bangladesh in general.
A lady teacher Lata Samaddar of the local Tejgaon college lodged a complaint with police that a policeman abused her for wearing Bindi while she was getting down from a rickshaw on the way to her college on Saturday. She said in her complaint that the person in police uniform tried to run the motorbike over her during which she got injured.
Lata Samaddar told the Prasar Bharti Special correspondent that the action of the police person reflected the fundmentalist and anti-woman attitude of the person.