“Everything was supposed to return to normal on the 13th, following the election on the 12th. Yet nothing has improved. The honourable minister has made our lives harder than ever.”
These few lines criticising Expatriates’ Welfare and Overseas Employment Minister Ariful Haque Choudhury on Facebook cost a Sylhet schoolteacher 10 hours in police custody.
Zubayer Ahmed of Companiganj was taken to the police station on Tuesday afternoon and released at 11:50pm after being made to sign a blank sheet of paper.
A resident of Kalabari village, Zubayer teaches at Kalabari Kindergarten and runs a small stone-crushing mill.
“I never imagined something like this could happen over an ordinary post. I’m completely fed up. I’ve fallen ill,” he told TIMES.
Companiganj Police Station Officer-in-Charge Md Usman Gani said Zubayer was released after expressing remorse.
“Since he expressed remorse on his own, he was released into the custody of two people. He assured us that he would not do such a thing again,” the OC told TIMES.
Zubayer made the Facebook post on 8 October alongside three photographs of Minister Ariful.
He said a journalist he knew in Sylhet advised him that night to delete it, which he did. The next day, he learnt that people were gathering information about him.
“I’m an ordinary, harmless person. My father and forefathers were all farmers. I’m not involved in politics. But people in the area started receiving calls. They mentioned the names of DB, DGFI and NSI. I became frightened and switched off my phone,” he said.
On Tuesday, Zubayer learnt that the OC had asked two BNP leaders to bring him to the station.
He left his phone at home, but police later obtained it through his uncle and searched it.
Zubayer said Companiganj upazila BNP General Secretary Ali Akbar and Senior Vice-President Shawkat Ali Babul were present when he arrived around 1pm.
He later heard that Minister Ariful was attending an event in Narayanganj and would speak afterwards.
The OC remarked, “If he goes outside now, how will we bring him back?”
Zubayer was then locked in a room until around 9pm, when he was taken back to the OC’s office.
He was released into the custody of Shawkat Ali Babul and another BNP leader, Lal Mia, after signing a blank sheet of paper.
Companiganj Police Station Inspector (Investigation) Sujan Karmakar told TIMES, “There was tension in the area over the Facebook post. Two BNP leaders brought the man to the police station.”
Asked whether Ali Akbar was one of them, he replied, “Yes.”
Ali Akbar denied taking Zubayer to the station.
“He made a post about the minister. We told him to delete it,” he told TIMES.
Asked why he had instructed someone else to remove a Facebook post, Akbar said, “I thought the post was inappropriate. That is why I told him.”
The OC denied detaining or arresting Zubayer.
“Zubayer was neither detained nor arrested. He was brought to the police station for questioning over the Facebook post,” he said.
Syeda Shirin Akter, president of the Sylhet chapter of Citizens for Good Governance, criticised the police.
“The police have no backbone now. When BNP leaders brought the young man to the police station, the police had no option but to keep him there,” she said.
The actions of BNP leaders and police stand in stark contrast to the party’s election pledges on freedom of expression.
On 7 February, ahead of the national election, the BNP published a Facebook post referring to its 2026 election manifesto, declaring, “Freedom of the media and freedom of expression will be ensured.”
The manifesto also promises, “A liberal and inclusive democratic society will be built where no opinion, belief or identity will be devalued. An environment for free and safe expression, independent media and unrestricted thought will be ensured.”
Minister Ariful did not respond to WhatsApp calls or written questions seeking comment.
Human Rights Support Society (HRSS) Executive Director Ijajul Islam expressed astonishment.
“Many of those against whom the government has taken action over Facebook posts used offensive language. But in this case, the person’s statement was extremely ordinary and expressed in simple language. Why, then, was he detained by the government?” he told TIMES.
Calling it an attack on freedom of expression, he said, “During the Awami League government’s tenure, various laws were used to harass citizens. Such incidents declined somewhat under the interim government, but they are appearing again under the BNP government.”
Zubayer said his post reflected frustration over an unfulfilled promise affecting his livelihood.
Minister Ariful had promised that stone quarries would reopen the day after the election. Relying on that assurance, Zubayer and several others established a small stone-crushing mill.
But the quarries remained closed, prompting his Facebook post.
“I teach at a kindergarten and earn Tk2,500 to Tk3,000 a month. That is why I wanted to start the business,” he said.
