Selina Hayat Ivy Detained in Corruption Probe, Raises Alarm on Political Integrity

Former Narayanganj City Corporation mayor Selina Hayat Ivy has expressed her disappointment ahead of her arrest.

She said, "Am I a tyrant? Have I killed or extorted? Do I have a record of ever attacking any opposition party in Narayanganj city? Then why and in whose interest am I being arrested?"

A team from Sadar Model Police Station went to Ivy's ancestral home “Chunka Kutir” around 11:30 pm on Thursday to arrest her. Thousands of locals took to the streets immediately after hearing about the police operation.

They started shouting slogans saying they would not let Ivy be arrested and taken away “in the dark of night”. Then, around 5:45am, the three-time mayor left the house in the city's Deobhog area and got into a police car.

As she was being taken away, Ivy said: "Those who are in the current government have talked about equality. You have protested against discrimination. You have put a new government in charge by overthrowing the old government.

"Then why does this discrimination happen? Do we actually value honest politics and honesty?"

When the Awami League government fell in the face of a mass uprising in August, most of the party’s district leaders and activists fled, but Ivy stayed at home. She is the former senior vice president of the district Awami League.

Before getting into the police car, Ivy told reporters: "I was at home, I did not run away. So why was I arrested? I want the people to give me an answer and the people will give it."

When police came to arrest her, Ivy said that she would not go anywhere in the dark of night. She said that if she had to go somewhere, she would go in the morning. In the morning, she voluntarily got into the police car.

Ivy said, "I don't know exactly why I am being taken. When the authorities came to my house, they said that a warrant had been issued against me.

“Although they could not show me the warrant papers, I am still going with them out of respect for the law.

“They came at night - I did not want to leave at night. I regret that the administration workers had to wait all night.”

Thousands of people chanted slogans in favour of the former mayor as she was being taken to a police car. They remained in front of her house overnight and into the morning.

Ivy expressed her gratitude to all of them, saying: “The residents of my neighbourhood were on the streets all night, but they did not cause any unrest. I want to thank them.”

“I am your daughter and I will remember the love and respect you have shown me for a lifetime.”

She said, “I am the daughter of Ali Ahmed Chunka. My father rose above party lines and practised the politics of equality. If I have committed a crime for saying ‘Joy Bangla, Joy Bangabandhu’, then I have no objection to being labelled a criminal for that crime. If I am tried for that, then so be it.”

Ivy became the mayor of Narayanganj City Corporation for the third consecutive time in 2022. After the fall of the Awami League government, 12 city mayors in the country, including Ivy, were removed last August.

The former mayor said, “I have served you in Narayanganj city for 21 years. No one can ever say that I was vengeful towards anyone, hurt another party, or treated anyone in a discriminatory way.”

“I have tried to rise above party lines and work for the people from within my own party.”

He said, “Despite disputes or differences, there is not a single place where I have not protested in favour of the people of this city. I have demanded justice for all the murders, including that of (Tanvir Ahmd) Twaki. Even when the people of Narayanganj were completely silent and no one dared speak up - I raised the city’s voice against injustice.

“I don’t know for what crime, for what oppression that Ivy - who taught the people of this city to speak up, to protest against injustice - is being arrested.”

Addressing the people of Narayanganj, Ivy said: “You have stood by me and my family. Please stand with us in the future too. You all know, that I lost my beloved younger brother Mohammad Ali Reza Ripon not even a month ago.

“I still can’t forget that grief. The way I am being arrested in front of three minor children - these children don’t even have a mother.”

Ivy, the daughter of Ali Ahmed Chunka - the first chairman of the Narayanganj Municipality – had initially pursued a medical degree abroad. She returned to Bangladesh two decades ago and suddenly entered politics.

When the Awami League was facing difficulties in Narayanganj during the BNP-Jamaat coalition government, Ivy took charge of the party. In 2003, she ran for the post of Narayanganj Municipality chairman and won.

After that, when the Awami League returned to power, Ivy's clash with the influential Osman family began. The conflict that the Osmans had with Chunka in Narayanganj continued in the rivalry between Ivy and Shamim Osman.

When the municipality became Narayanganj City Corporation in 2011, Shamim Osman ran against Ivy in the first mayoral election. Though the vote was not conducted using party symbols, the Awami League’s central leaders backed Shamim.

Ivy beat Shamim in the election.

In 2016 and 2022, Ivy ran as the candidate of the then ruling Awami League and won against BNP candidates Sakhawat Hossain and Taimur Alam Khandaker.