Bangladesh teeters on the edge of chaos as February 12 elections loom, marked by relentless political bloodshed. The latest outrage unfolded in Dhaka’s Keraniganj when Bangladesh Nationalist Party stalwart Mohammad Hasan Molla was riddled with bullets by drive-by shooters late Thursday.
The 45-year-old Hazratpur Union BNP secretary was en route home around 11 PM when two helmeted men on a motorbike executed the hit. The shot tore into his right belly, plunging him into grave danger. Frantic kin ferried him to Dhaka Medical College Hospital, where medics are locked in a desperate struggle to save him.
Hospital outpost Inspector Mohammad Faruk confirmed: ‘Arrived with abdominal gunshot. Under care; police notified.’ Rakeeb Molla, the victim’s sibling, relived the terror: ‘Bike-borne attackers fired on my brother returning home. We rushed him to emergency.’
Amid this mayhem, recent killings haunt the nation. 65-year-old Jamaat leader Anwar Ullah butchered at residence. January 8 saw Jubo Dal’s Yanul Hossain, 31, slaughtered in Joypurhat’s Panchbibi—his 22-year-old brother clinging to life.
From minority pogroms to opposition rub-outs, violence festers unchecked. BNP’s boycott underscores allegations of a foreordained outcome favoring the incumbents. World watches warily as Bangladesh’s ballot box risks becoming a graveyard, threatening stability in a volatile region.