NCP calls for nationwide protests over fire at Nusrat’s family house

National Citizen Party (NCP) has called for demonstrations and protest marches across the country following an arson attack on the ancestral home of its Political Council member and MP Nusrat Tabassum in Kushtia.

The party announced the programme in an urgent press release on Thursday (November 12), signed by its Member Secretary Akhtar Hossain.

The statement instructed all district, metropolitan, police station and upazila-level units to organise rallies and processions in their respective areas as soon as possible. Party leaders and activists were also urged to take part spontaneously to make the programme a success.

Nusrat, one of the coordinators of the July mass uprising, alleged that miscreants hurled petrol bombs at her family home in Bagoan village of Daulatpur upazila in Kushtia at around 11:45pm on Wednesday.

The attack reportedly left five rooms of the tin-shed house gutted. Several members of her family, including her parents, were injured.

After travelling from Dhaka to the scene and reviewing CCTV footage, Nusrat said a person had made four attempts to set the house on fire from the rear.

In a Facebook post, she said she did not know who was behind the attack. The NCP, however, blamed the banned Awami League for the incident. The party's Media Editor Yasir Arafat said they suspected that individuals linked to the Awami League might have been involved.

No arrests have been reported so far, and police have yet to determine the cause of the fire.

Daulatpur Police Station Officer-in-Charge Khaledur Rahman said a room used as a cowshed had caught fire. Nusrat's family and local residents suspect that petrol or a similar flammable substance may have been used to start the fire, possibly over a previous dispute.

The incident has drawn condemnation from several political figures amid a series of recent cocktail bomb explosions and arson attacks across the country.

In a Facebook post on Thursday, Dr Tasnim Jara called for the immediate arrest of those involved and expressed solidarity with Nusrat, writing: “You are not alone.”

Jamaat-e-Islami chief and opposition leader Dr Shafiqur Rahman also condemned the attack. Describing it as cowardly, he called for those responsible to be identified and brought to justice.

Jamaat-e-Islami also criticised the BNP-led government, accusing it of failing to contain the recent spate of violence.