‘Some members of my own team have disowned me’ Badhon Says

Popular actress Azmeri Haque Badhon was attacked in Italy while participating in the 83rd Venice International Film Festival.

She claimed that she was assaulted by expatriate workers of the banned political party Awami League in the city of Mestre while attending the screening of Rubaiyat Hossain’s film ‘The Difficult Bride’.

The actress returned home on Monday morning after the unfortunate incident. Upon returning home, Badhon said that her film team and team members there had somehow disliked her due to the attack!
Badhon also said the incident had tarnished Bangladesh’s image abroad.

“Bangladeshi expatriates behaved brutally towards me and attacked me in a despicable manner. Because of this, our country’s image was tarnished on foreign soil.

Foreigners may think that we are a nation constantly fighting among ourselves – that wherever someone goes, they are attacked.

That is simply unacceptable,” she said. Explaining how much support she received in Venice after the attack, Badhon said, “The director of the Venice Film Festival, the Italian government, the government of our country, and the Bangladesh Embassy in Italy have supported and helped me.”

Badhon regretfully said that she did not receive any support from her colleagues at the Venice Film Festival, “But my team disowned me. They banned me from participating with them for the rest of the festival.

Even though I was supposed to go to the Toronto Film Festival later, they banned me there too. However, among my co-actors, Sunerah, Zainin, and Zainin’s mother helped me a lot.”

Referring to the security provided by the state and international level after the attack, the actress said, “I would like to express my gratitude to the Bangladesh government, the Prime Minister and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The government office contacted me on the night of the incident. The ambassador of the Bangladesh Embassy in Italy, Bhaiya, was very supportive.

The Italian government, the Cultural Minister there, the Undersecretary and the Police Department provided 24-hour protection every day.

Apart from this, the director of the Venice Film Festival arranged for me to stay at the Lido for security reasons.”

Recalling the support of the countrymen and people from all walks of life, Badhon said, “Alhamdulillah, whatever Allah does, He does for the good.

I will never forget the support given by the people of the country, the leaders and activists of the opposition and government parties, regardless of political ideology, and the expatriate Bengalis.

Thank you to all those who have waited for me in this heat with so much difficulty.”

It is worth noting that Badhon was physically assaulted in the city of Mestre on Tuesday, calling her a ‘July militant’, a video of which later went viral on social media.

Following the incident, Badhon filed a case in Italy on September 8. The issue was also discussed in the National Parliament of Bangladesh, where State Minister for Foreign Affairs Humayun Kabir called the attack an ‘attack on democratic governance’.