Fire Incident at MP Nusrat Tabassum’s Residence Raises Serious Concerns

A big fire broke out at the village home of Ms. Nusrat Tabassum in Daulatpur upazila, Kushtia. She is an MP in a reserved women’s seat and a leader of the National Citizen Party (NCP). The fire began after midnight on Wednesday night in Bagoan village. It burned five of the eight rooms of the tin shed house and killed two goats.

Fire service workers reached the site quickly and controlled the fire fully at about 1:50 am. Mr. Delowar Hossain, Additional Superintendent of Police (Bheramara Circle), said the five rooms burned before the fire service put out the flames. No one in the MP’s family was hurt. Her parents live in another three story building 20 to 30 cubits away, and the fire did not reach it.

NCP leaders blamed a petrol bomb attack by the Awami League. The party says it was planned sabotage. Its media cell blamed Awami League terrorists directly in a Facebook post. Ms. Nusrat Tabassum also posted that someone threw petrol bombs at her home. She said she is not sure who the attackers were. She wrote that no one can silence her and that she will continue her work.

On Thursday, she held a press conference at the site. She said the lives of ordinary people are unsafe, and the lives of MPs are also at great risk. She said four blasts hit an MP’s home one after another at midnight, and this is very worrying. She said the blasts looked like a petrol bomb attack. She also criticized the police for acting in a strange and passive way.

She said police reached the site at about 1:00 am, nearly one hour after she reported the attack. She said that even 12 hours later, police had collected no evidence. She said she got a threat by phone at about 9:30 pm on 28 October. On Tuesday, she filed a General Diary at Kalabagan Police Station in Dhaka. She said threats continued even after that.

She also said a warning post appeared about three hours before the attack. It came from the Facebook ID of a fugitive president of Kushtia District Chhatra League. On Thursday, Home Minister Mr. Salahuddin Ahmed spoke in Parliament. He said police found no sign of a cocktail blast at her house. He said an electrical short circuit may have caused the fire. A joint probe by the fire service, police and civil administration is under way.

The fire at the home of Ms. Nusrat Tabassum, an NCP MP in a reserved seat, is very sad and worrying. Her words at the press conference differ greatly from the Home Minister’s words. She cited earlier threats and filed a General Diary. She also pointed the finger at the fallen and banned Awami League. A fire at an MP’s home is not a small matter.

Whether it was sabotage by the banned Awami League or an electrical short circuit, the joint probe committee must find the real cause fast. The probe must not drag on or be buried. Fallen fascist Ms. Sheikh Hasina has announced she will return home in December. Since then, her party’s workers have staged flash marches, cocktail blasts and bus burnings for several months. Their terror grows as December comes closer.

Yesterday, police recovered cocktails in the capital. Cocktail blasts went on all night in Gopalganj, and people tried to block roads. Two buses were set on fire at night in Savar. It is clear that Awami League workers are linked to these acts of terror. It is alleged that Ms. Hasina, who fled to India and got a death sentence for genocide, and her master Mr. Modi, plot to destabilize Bangladesh. Their local terrorists are said to be growing their activities, with money from Awami League leaders who hide at home and abroad.

Diplomatic circles also sense some kind of plot by India and the United States over Bangladesh. On Thursday, Indian High Commissioner Mr. Dinesh Trivedi met US Ambassador Mr. Brent T. Christensen at the Indian High Commission. Nothing is clear about what they discussed. Diplomatic circles say this meeting is not ordinary. They have no doubt that the two countries will play some role in Bangladesh.

The economy is very fragile, and ordinary people suffer from hardship. The crises have no end. These include the fuel crisis, inflation, rising prices of daily goods, closed garment and other factories, and slow production. They also include a lack of investment, slow trade and rising unemployment. The worsening law and order situation adds to public worry. People are helpless between two crises.

The fire at Ms. Nusrat Tabassum’s home has spread more fear among worried people. This event cannot be treated as small or isolated. Whatever the cause, the public must be told clearly and quickly. Such events may happen again in the future. Ms. Nusrat Tabassum comes from a district that once sheltered terrorists and extremists. Their activities were wiped out later, but they have grown again recently. People doubt whether they are active again together with the banned Awami League.

Extremists and terrorists also troubled Jhenaidah and Jashore. The recent political killings in Khulna are unstoppable, and law enforcers do nothing to stop them. This is a serious concern. Many police officers from the Hasina government still hold their posts. Many were moved from the capital to districts and small towns. It seems Awami League terror acts are rising in those very places.

On 11 November, authorities seized the official and personal phones of Mr. Mohammad Jahangir Alam. He is a Superintendent of Police (SP) in the Chattogram Range Reserve Force. He is accused of keeping contact with banned Awami League workers and leaking sensitive internal information. He served as Additional Superintendent of Police in Feni district during the 2024 anti discrimination movement. Many police officers linked to the Awami League were transferred or made OSD. They still keep contact with Awami League workers. They have become more active since Ms. Hasina announced her December return. Awami League terror is now more visible in areas under their charge.

We have said many times that police and intelligence agencies have failed badly to stop terror acts. Observers say Hasina followers inside these forces cause this failure, so they are careless in their duty. Awami League terrorists use this chance to plan their acts. If police and intelligence agencies worked actively together, such events would be rare. The Home Ministry, the Home Minister, the IGP and senior officers must act with care.

A parliamentary team from an opposition party visited the home of Ms. Nusrat Tabassum in Kushtia yesterday, Friday. That is good. But the government and the opposition must not blame each other or sling mud over this event. The banned Awami League workers would use that chance to destabilize the country. We believe the government and the opposition share one enemy, the genocidal banned Awami League. They must stay firmly united so it cannot rise again.

In a democracy, people hold different views. But all must unite against India and the Awami League, the enemies of the country. The known enemy must be stopped at any cost.