Lone woman candidate in Ctg ready to fight for discrimination-free society
Media: The Independent
Sabina Khatun, the lone woman candidate among 109 candidates contesting the next polls from 16 constituencies in Chattogram, remains upbeat about her prospects. She is contesting the 11th parliamentary election from the Chattogram-10 constituency as an independent candidate. Sabina said should she get elected, she would offer a “discrimination-free and humanity-based society” to people in the constituency. She expressed hope that she would win in case of a free and fair election.
According to Election Commission (EC) statistics, the two leading political parties, Awami League (AL) and Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), did not give nomination to any woman in Chattogram since 2008. Sabina is affiliated to a party called ‘World Humanity Revolution’, which is not registered with the EC.
From EC records, it was found that no woman candidate received nomination in Chattogram for the 2008 eletion. The situation was the same in the last election.
In 2018, however, four women submitted their nominations for contesting the polls. They are: Nuri Ara Safa and Shakila Farzana from the BNP, Nahida Farhana from the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) and Sabina Khantun.
But Shakila Farzana withdrew her candidature as she did not get the party ticket for the polls, while the nomination of Nuri Ara Safa was found invalid as she did not submit enough documents. Now, only Sabina Khatun is in the election race.
“Women are being harassed everywhere in society. They face discrimination even in their respective workplaces,” said Sabina.