Boatmen chanted and sang racing songs as their oars drove the boats forward, dressed in bright colours, while thousands cheered from both banks of the river. It felt like the return of a village festival that much of rural Bangladesh has lost. The boat race was held on Saturday afternoon, 31 October, on the Sandhya river at Shikarpur in Wazirpur upazila of Barishal.
Several thousand men, women, children and older people gathered along the banks to watch. Many others followed the race from small boats and trawlers on the river.
Sardar Sarfuddin Ahmed Santu, the member of parliament for Barishal-2 (Wazirpur-Banaripara), opened the race at 4pm at the Shikarpur port area. Eight large boats under different names took part.
A close contest followed. The pull of the oars, the clang of brass cymbals and the cheering filled the river. The course ran for about five kilometres and finished near the Major MA Jalil bridge, also known as the Ichladi bridge.
Md Ali Suja, the Wazirpur upazila nirbahi officer (UNO), who organised and planned the event, said a boat race is not just a competition but an important part of rural culture. Events like this introduce a fading tradition to the next generation and bring new life to local people, he said.
The race was organised by the Wazirpur upazila administration and the non-governmental development organisation Avas Barishal, with financial support from the Bangladesh National Museum and UNESCO.
After the race, a short discussion and prize-giving was held at the Ichladi end of the bridge named after Major MA Jalil, a freedom fighter who served as a sector commander in the Liberation War.
Barishal’s additional divisional commissioner, Khalil Ahmed, presided. Sardar Sarfuddin Ahmed Santu MP was chief guest. Under the overall management of UNO Md Ali Suja, the special guests were district police superintendent AZM Mostafizur Rahman, Asma Ferdousi, keeper of the public education department at the Bangladesh National Museum, and Rahima Sultana Kajal, executive director of Avas, along with officials and political figures.
বাংলায় মূল প্রতিবেদন পড়ুন · Read the original Bengali report