With Bangladesh’s national elections just weeks away on February 12, a wave of political brutality has claimed another high-profile target. In Dhaka’s Keraniganj suburb, BNP leader Mohammad Hasan Molla, 45, was ambushed and shot by masked gunmen on Thursday night, intensifying fears of a violent poll season.
Molla, general secretary of the party’s Hazratpur unit, sustained a life-threatening injury to his right abdomen while returning from an evening outing. Attackers on a speeding motorcycle unleashed gunfire before vanishing into the night. Bleeding profusely, he was urgently transported to Dhaka Medical College Hospital’s emergency wing by relatives.
Inspector Mohammad Faruk of the hospital’s police post detailed the arrival: ‘Gunshot victim Hasan Molla from Keraniganj. Treatment ongoing; report sent to station.’ Brother Rakeeb Molla described the chaos: ‘We arrived after the shots, saved him, and got him to EMU.’
This brazen hit follows a string of deadly strikes. Jamaat-e-Islami’s Anwar Ullah was hacked to death last week. BNP youth Yanul Hossain fell to assassins in Panchbibi on January 8, his sibling scarred in the melee.
Critics slam the government’s inability to curb thuggery, as minority communities report surging assaults. The BNP’s poll abstention signals deep distrust in the electoral machinery. As blood stains the campaign trail, questions swirl: Can Bangladesh hold peaceful elections, or will anarchy prevail?