Having lost the river’s navigability, this region’s thousand-year-old tradition of boat racing across rural Bangladesh is heading toward extinction. To preserve this age-old tradition of rural Bangladesh, a boat race was held at the Dighirpar point on the Ichamati river in Dhaka’s Nabuabganj. The competition took place on Saturday afternoon. The entire riverside area rang with the splash of oars and cries of “Heiyo re, heiyo re.” Thousands of people, from children to the elderly, men and women alike, came out in joyous celebration to watch the race. The crowds overflowed on both banks of the river. People also gathered on the water itself in engine-powered boats and pansi boats. Loud music played from some of the boats. Amid the crowd’s electric anticipation, the racing boatmen called out, “Heiyo re heiyo.” The crowd’s cheers and applause spurred the boats on further. A village fair, with various food stalls, was set up along the riverbank.
The race was organised by Dighirpar Nawmojahid Club, with cooperation from the National Committee for Preserving Boat Race Heritage, the Nabuabganj upazila administration and Nabuabganj police station. Eight boats, of various sizes, took part, coming from the local area as well as the neighbouring districts of Munshiganj and Manikganj. The race began at 4pm and ended at 6:30pm.
Afterward, at a ceremony chaired by club president Sheikh Shahidul Islam Liton, chief guest and Dhaka-1 constituency MP Khondaker Abu Ashfaq distributed prizes among the competitors. Sheikh Shahidul Islam said the club organises the boat race every year. MP Khondaker Abu Ashfaq said boat racing is one of Bangladesh’s heritage traditions, and that they try to organise the race every time to preserve it. He said they want people never to forget their roots.
Also present at the prize-giving ceremony were boat-race celebration committee convener Ershad Al-Mamun, member secretary Mohsin Hasan Litu, and BNP leaders Md Amzad Hossain, Abul Kalam Khondaker and Abdus Salam, among others.