It was meant to be the happiest moment for Ashikur Rahman Shukur’s life as he was going tie the knot but a sudden anti-militant raid in the area and the subsequent section 144 clamped in the two-kilometre radius added misery to his celebration.

“The militants must be controlled, otherwise the country will be destroyed,” he said.

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Then he decided to go on foot along with some fifty others on his way to get married amid the tense situation prevailing there.

“My marriage was fixed a long before this raid and now that everything has been arranged I cannot alter the date,” Shukur, a resident of Purba Borohat area under Moulvibazar Municipality, says.

“It would be a disaster for me if the marriage is canceled as I have already spent over Tk 2.5 lakh for this purpose,” he said.

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We are really shocked to see militants infiltrated in our area: Bridegroom

They will have to walk near about one and half kilometre to the bride’s house in Kagabola area of Purba Borohat braving the section 144.

“I am not scared rather I am feeling ecstatic,” Shukur says adding that he has taken the marriage as a protest against militancy.

“I thank the law-enforcers for their prompt and timely action to take the situation under control,” he also said.

Kawsar Mia, cousin of Shukur, said that everything was going the way they had planned.

“We are really shocked to see militants infiltrated in our area,” he said.