'I Escaped a Terrible Conspiracy — the Prime Minister's Advice Was the Best': Ishrak After Resigning

Ishrak Hossain, the Dhaka-6 MP who has just resigned as state minister for liberation war affairs, has said he managed to protect himself from a well-organised and terrible conspiracy. In a Facebook post on Thursday, he said the prime minister's instruction to resign first seemed to him like 'punishment', but he later understood that protecting his political future lay behind that decision.

Ishrak wrote, 'The honourable prime minister gave me the best advice of all time by instructing me to resign from the cabinet, which I accepted without a word.' At the time of resigning he spoke of protecting the honour of the BNP and the government, but in the later Facebook post he described the prime minister's instruction as 'the best advice of all time' for protecting his political future.

The episode began after several videos of an armed anti-drug operation in Gendaria were published on social media, sparking fierce controversy. Immediately afterwards, on the prime minister's instruction, he resigned on Monday (19 October). Whether an elected representative can conduct an armed operation in this way became the biggest question at the time.

Ishrak Hossain himself published several videos of the anti-drug operation in Gendaria on his own Facebook page. In the videos he is seen taking part in the operation, weapon in hand, in an area beside the Gendaria railway line. Another person with him is also seen holding a weapon. In another video, several people are seen being taken away in handcuffs with police members.

Ishrak, the elder son of Sadek Hossain Khoka, the last mayor of undivided Dhaka City, wrote, 'I had set out to do a difficult task (anti-drug). I managed to sidestep and protect myself from a terrible conspiracy that originated from there.' In his account, the conspiracy was a plan to damage him politically by repeatedly putting him in embarrassing situations.

According to the resigned state minister, a plan had been made to assassinate his character through 'one destructive report and false campaign after another' and to put him before public criticism. Alongside that, an attempt could have been made to create distance between him and well-wishing senior leaders and to leave him 'isolated'.

Ishrak also expressed concern in the post that, had such a situation been created, he would have had to 'draw an end' to his political life. He said, 'He also reminded me of the terrible unjust plan that the same circle had made against him (Tarique Rahman) in the past.' In other words, he claims the prime minister warned him by drawing on past examples.

Ishrak also warned that if anyone in the BNP opportunistically took part in the alleged conspiracy, action would be taken against them too. He said, 'We are people of Dhaka; the cunning tricks of field and farm will not work here.' Through this remark, discussion is under way in political circles that he has also indirectly pointed towards a section inside his own party.

Describing himself as a worker with 'blind faith' in the BNP chairman, Ishrak wrote, 'By Allah's mercy, Deshnayak Tarique Rahman looks on me with the affection of a younger brother and always keeps in mind what is good for me. I have received proof of that again and again in my life.' Urging people not to see his statement as merely a social media 'status', he wrote, 'I am simply, in amazement, matching what he (the prime minister) said a few days ago with today's situation.'

In this context, Akhtar Hossain, member secretary of the National Citizen Party (NCP) and an MP, has said Ishrak Hossain was forced to display a weapon because of the administration's ineffectiveness in maintaining law and order. In his words, 'No government initiative is visible that would improve Bangladesh's law and order situation merely through his resignation.' Raising the failures of the home ministry and border protection, he also asked whether Ishrak's resignation is only about the weapon coming to the fore, or whether the BNP's internal conflict is also involved.

On the day of his resignation, at a press conference at the National Press Club, Ishrak had said he had not gone to grab any land or collect extortion money; he had gone to war against drugs. In his account, the Ghuntighar area beside the Gendaria railway line had long become a drug den; the matter was discussed repeatedly in Dhaka's law and order meetings but no initiative was taken, and his attempt to set up a police outpost in the area also failed.

According to Ishrak's account, at the request of local people he began work to control drugs in the Dhaka-6 constituency with well-wishers and went on operations in various areas, informing the police and others concerned afterwards. In August, three people were injured in a clash between two groups over control of the drug trade in the Ghuntighar area. On the day of the operation, when he reached the spot, 20-30 drug dealers began running about and several rushed towards his car; at that point, in self-defence, he took his licensed firearm in hand, and once he was sure they had no weapons, he put his weapon back in his pocket.

According to his account, during that day's roughly 45-minute operation, entering several rooms, local weapons, heroin and various drugs were recovered with the police's help, and the police detained six people. But he alleged that at night various media published the video under different headlines to embarrass him and his party, and motivated reports were published about him hour after hour. At one stage, after meeting and discussing with the prime minister, he wanted to resign because the party was embarrassed. He said, 'I made no mistake that day. I only held my weapon in my hand for some time for my own safety.'

After his resignation, this Thursday post by Ishrak has created fresh discussion in political circles. On one side he calls the prime minister's decision the best advice for himself; on the other, his hints about a 'terrible conspiracy' and opportunists inside the party raise new questions. The thing to watch now is whether any reaction comes from the party and the government after his statement, and which path his declared fight against drugs takes from here.