Shakib Al Hasan’s home attacked after event tied to Sheikh Hasina

Shakib Al Hasan’s ancestral home in Magura was attacked after he took part in a media event linked to ousted former prime minister Sheikh Hasina, with windows smashed and petrol bombs hurled at the property. The strike turned the home of Bangladesh’s most recognizable cricketers into a target in a dispute that has moved far beyond politics and into public life.

Some accounts said the attack came on Wednesday night at about 8:45 p.m. local time, shortly after the virtual press interaction in New Delhi. Other coverage said the house was unoccupied when it was hit and that part of the property was set on fire. The difference in those descriptions did not change the core fact: Shakib’s family home in his hometown and ancestral base was singled out within hours of his appearance with Hasina.

The timing gave the attack clear political weight. Hasina’s supporters described the event as her first public media appearance since she was removed from power, and Shakib’s participation placed him in the middle of the country’s ongoing rupture over her fall. Bangladesh was pushed into this period of upheaval after mass protests in 2024 forced Hasina from office, and figures linked to her political camp have remained vulnerable to backlash.

Shakib carries unusual political sensitivity because he is not only a sporting icon but also a former Awami League member of parliament. That dual identity has made him both a national symbol and an easy target in a polarized climate, where public admiration can quickly turn into political suspicion. His profile has long extended well beyond cricket, and the attack in Magura showed how quickly that visibility can expose athletes to retaliation.

The Awami League circulated a purported video of the incident and condemned it as politically motivated in some coverage. Follow-up reporting said police had begun a probe into the attack. Those developments added to concern about security for public figures seen as close to the former ruling establishment, especially as Bangladesh continues to wrestle with the fallout from Hasina’s ouster.

For a country where sport often offers a rare common language, the assault on Shakib’s home showed how narrow the space has become between fandom, politics and revenge. The attack left one of Bangladesh’s best-known athletes at the center of the country’s unsettled post-Hasina order.