Maulana Rayhan Jamil, an independent parliamentary candidate, announced that he would hand out hilsa for just Tk 10 in Sadarpur, Faridpur. But with more people than hilsa, uproar broke out among the crowd that had come for cheap fish, and under pressure from the crowd Rayhan Jamil left the hilsa behind and quickly left the scene.

The distribution was organised at about 11am on 17 September on the grounds of Bishwa Zaker Manzil Government High School in the upazila.

The report also calls him Mufti Rayhan Jamil. He has announced that he will stand as an independent in the coming national parliamentary election from the Faridpur-4 seat (Bhanga, Sadarpur and Charbhadrasan).

According to police and local people, word of hilsa for just Tk 10 drew hundreds of people from various villages. With too few hilsa, uproar broke out, and under pressure from the crowd Rayhan Jamil left the fish and quickly departed. When he reached the Bhashanchar union parishad area, angry people who had not got any fish blocked his car. In the tense situation he got away only with the help of local people.

Local resident Nuru Sheikh said: "I heard hilsa would be given for Tk 10 and stood on the school field from the morning. But there were more people than fish, so I had to go back empty-handed. People started pushing and fighting. Then I saw the independent candidate himself running away."

An elderly woman, Johra Begum, said: "We are poor people. We cannot afford to spend a thousand taka on hilsa. So when I heard about hilsa for Tk 10 I came to the school field in the morning. I stood for hours in the sun and heat and nearly fell ill, but I did not get any fish. If you can't give fish, why announce it?"

Local resident Titu Islam told Jago News: "He did not announce how many people would get hilsa. But he brought 600 hilsa to distribute, and there were at least 2,000 people. When people did not get hilsa they started an uproar."

Mufti Rayhan Jamil, the independent candidate for Faridpur-4, said: "I try to help people, and that is why I took the initiative to distribute hilsa. But an unexpected crowd and disorder put the situation out of control. I then had to leave the fish and move away quickly for security reasons."

Confirming the incident, Sadarpur police station officer-in-charge (OC) Sukdeb Roy said: "When I learned of it I warned Rayhan Jamil in advance. He ignored us and went ahead with the distribution his own way. Then the disorder happened. On receiving the news we sent police and brought the situation under control. No serious untoward incident took place."

Source: Jagonews24. First published in Bengali on The Agro News.