On Wednesday night, Dhaka was shaken by a horrific explosion of a crude bomb that resulted in the death of a young man and simultaneously heightened the political tension surrounding the BNP leader Tarique Rahman’s return.
The explosion occurred around 7 PM in the vicinity of the Moghbazar Wireless Gate, right in front of the Bangladesh Muktijoddha Sangsad—the main office of the fighters of the 1971 Liberation War. As per the accounts of eyewitnesses, the bomb was thrown from a flyover and it hit Siam, a boy of about 20, who was having tea at the stall near the road. He was pronounced dead on the spot, as per the statement of Inspector (Operations) Md Mohiuddin of Hatirjheel Police Station.
This bombing claimed its next victim a day before the return of the acting chairman Tarique Rahman of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) and son of the former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia, who has been living in London for almost 17 years. Rahman is likely to touch down on Thursday in Dhaka and be part of a big political rally that will include him speaking to the supporters.
The 60-year-old Rahman is widely regarded as the next prime minister and a significant threat to the incumbent in the upcoming general election of February. The government of Muhammad Yunus has imposed strict security measures for his return, while the BNP is preparing for a phenomenal reception of millions of supporters.
The blast was one of the occasions that triggered discontent in Bangladesh, which had already been set off by the killing of the strongest opposing leader Sharif Osman Hadi on December 12. Hadi, considered to be the government’s biggest challenger in the upcoming elections of 2024, was killed by gunmen in masks while he was coming out of a mosque in Dhaka and later died in Singapore due to the injuries. The BNP protested at Shahbagh, asking for reparation for Hadi’s murder.
The government is still investigating the explosion while tensions are high in the capital with increasing political and public fear as the date of Rahman’s return approaches.
