Former Bangladesh cricket team captain Mashrafe Mortaza's home was torched by protesters amid the ongoing chaos in the country, where students are being detained and shot by police and security forces.
Protesters expressed their anger at Mortaza, an MP with the ruling Awami League party, for his silence on the "massacres and mass arrests of students" in Bangladesh. Photos show his house being vandalized and set ablaze by agitators.
The District Awami League office and party President Subash Chandra Bose’s residence were also torched by the mob.
Mortaza captained Bangladesh in 117 games in different formats, the highest for his nation. Throughout his extensive cricket career, he claimed 390 international wickets and amassed 2,955 runs in 36 Tests, 220 ODIs, and 54 T20Is.
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Post-retirement, he ventured into politics in 2018, joining the Hasina-led Awami League, and won a seat as an MP from the Narail-2 constituency.
PM's, Home Minister's houses set on fire
The situation escalated on Monday when Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina fled the country after resigning amid the protests.
Videos of her official residence being vandalized and breached have gone viral on social media.
Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal’s house in Dhanmondi, Dhaka was also reportedly set on fire.
Hasina flees to India
Hasina landed at Hindon Airbase in Delhi NCR and is expected to fly to London from India. As Hasina departed, Bangladesh Army Chief General Waker-Uz-Zaman confirmed her resignation, announcing that an interim government would be formed soon.
Why are students protesting in Bangladesh
The student-led non-cooperation movement has been pressuring Hasina’s government for weeks. Students protested a 30 percent job reservation for relatives of freedom fighters who secured Bangladesh's independence from Pakistan in 1971, a conflict that reportedly claimed three million lives.
After the Supreme Court reduced the reservations to 5 percent, student leaders paused their protests. However, demonstrations reignited when the government ignored demands to release all student leaders, making Hasina’s resignation their primary demand.
