NCP MP Nusrat Tabassum’s Kushtia home set ablaze

Nusrat Tabassum, a joint convener of the National Citizen Party (NCP), a member of parliament and one of the six coordinators forcibly detained by the Detective Branch (DB) in July, has alleged that a petrol bomb was thrown at her family home in Kushtia in the early hours of Thursday, setting it on fire.

In a Facebook post, Nusrat said the attack would not stop her from speaking out.

“A petrol bomb has been thrown at my house. I do not know who did it. If you think you can silence my voice this way, you are mistaken,” she wrote.

The reserved-seat MP said she would continue her work despite the attack, adding that she would keep moving forward “even as I make my way through the fire”.

“Inquilab Zindabad!” she added.

In a subsequent Facebook post, Nusrat shared photographs and details of the damage, expressing anger over the destruction of her family home.

She said the house had been built by her grandfather and was where her family had grown up. She also mentioned that a pet goat named Tara had died in the fire.

“They are celebrating as they burn everything down. They probably thought they had hurt me deeply. What a bunch of cowards who fled with their tails between their legs,” she wrote.

She added that those who had failed to intimidate her while she was in the country would not succeed through such attacks either.

Her initial post drew widespread support, receiving more than 3,000 reactions within an hour.

Meanwhile, the NCP Media Cell released a video showing the aftermath of the attack. The footage showed Nusrat's house in Daulatpur upazila of Kushtia engulfed in flames.

In a statement accompanying the video, the NCP alleged that Awami League activists were behind the attack.

“Awami terrorists have hurled a petrol bomb at the residence of Nusrat Tabassum, joint convener of the NCP and a member of its Political Council, in Daulatpur, Kushtia,” the party said.

The attack comes amid a series of crude bomb explosions and arson incidents reported across the country.

More than 30 cocktail explosions were reported in different parts of the country between Monday and Tuesday. Around 19 buses were also set on fire during the same period.

At least five men, allegedly affiliated with the Awami League, have been arrested in connection with a series of crude bomb explosions in and around the Dhaka University campus.

The opposition Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami and the NCP have blamed the government for intelligence failures that they say have contributed to the recent spate of attacks.