A grisly bomb attack was attempted at the ancestral home of former Bangladeshi cricket captain and former Awami League MP Shakib Al Hasan on Wednesday night, hours after he appeared at the virtual press meet alongside the country’s foreign minister, Sheikh Hasina, in India. The attack took place at around 8.45 pm local time at his ancestral home in the Keshabmor area of Magura town. Taking to X, he wrote – “Torching residences : the cost of attending Awami League press conference. Neo fascism engulfs Bangladesh.”
According to police, several unidentified miscreants threw bricks and stones at the house, shattering windows before attempting to set the property ablaze. No injuries were reported. Shakib has remained a polarising figure because of his political association with the Awami League.He was elected as a MP from the Magura-1 constituency in the 2024 general election on an Awami League ticket. Shakib’s participation in the event underscored his continued association with the former ruling party at a time of heightened political tensions.
Ahead of the press conference, BNP, Islamist Jamaat, and NCP all publicly threatened media houses to weaponize judiciary to sue in case of reports of the press conference. “The calculated attack is another testament of the ongoing genocide campaign against Awami League activists in the name of democracy-building projects, hallmarks of fascism”, the statement added.
Speaking at the virtual conference held from Delhi, Hasina declared that she was determined to return to her hometown in December, and said she was prepared to face death or even arrest in an attempt of what she describes to restore democracy.
“My return is not about power, it’s about putting Bangladesh back on track of development, secularism and prosperity,” she said. Acknowledging the risks awaiting on her return, the 78-year-old ex-Prime Minister said, I know, they may put me in jail or kill me”.
Meanwhile, Sajeeb Wazeb Joy, the son of Sheikh Hasina and Senior Awami League leader warned that Bangladesh is descending into what he called a failed state and could become a breeding ground for regional terrorism unless international community’s intervene. Addressing the virtual meet organised by his mother, Joy claimed that foreign intelligence agencies, particularly Pakistan’s Intel-Services Intelligence, now operates in what he called open hand in the country.
He alleged that hundreds of convicts that his party during their reign had arrested and jailed were now released from prison, and claimed that banned groups such as Hizb-ut-Tahrir now march openly and that individuals linked to al-Qaeda address public rallies.