By Salah Uddin Shoaib Choudhury
The Awami League, Bangladesh’s dominant political party, is facing unprecedented internal strife as key figures once loyal to Sheikh Hasina now conspire against her. With her political future in turmoil following her dramatic escape to India amid a jihadist coup, former allies – many of whom amassed immense wealth through corruption – are now maneuvering to either remove her from the party or eliminate her entirely. Among them, her former Security Advisor, Maj Gen (Retired) Tarique Ahmed Siddique, stands at the center of a web of betrayal, alleged assassination plots, and financial scandals. As power struggles intensify, the once-unified leadership of the Awami League is crumbling, raising questions about the party’s future and the forces working behind the scenes to reshape Bangladesh’s political landscape.
On August 5, amid a jihadist coup, Sheikh Hasina fled to India as a massive Islamist force, led by Muhammad Yunus – then in France and backed by Army Chief General Waker Uz Zaman – planned to storm ‘Gono Bhaban,’ the Prime Minister’s official residence, and eliminate her. Shockingly, despite being aware of this blueprint, Hasina’s trusted Security Advisor, Major General (Retired) Tarique Ahmed Siddique, took no preventive action. He was forced to alter the assassination plan when Sheikh Rehana, Hasina’s younger sister, unexpectedly arrived in Bangladesh on August 4. In a last-minute effort, Siddique orchestrated Hasina and Rehana’s escape to India via a military aircraft.
Deteriorating relations between Hasina and Tarique Siddique
Tarique Siddique’s relationship with Hasina began to sour when she grew closer to her advisor Salman F Rahman, who gradually became more influential than Siddique. In the 2018 one-sided election, Hasina allocated at least five billion takas to Siddique as an election fund, a substantial portion of which he misappropriated with the assistance of Major General TM Jubaer (Tariq Mohammed Jobaer), then Director General of the National Intelligence Agency (NSI). However, in the 2024 elections, Hasina did not provide any funds to Siddique, fueling his resentment.
From that point, Siddique conspired against Hasina, with TM Jobaer’s direct involvement. He allegedly attempted an assassination plot against Hasina to position his sister-in-law, Sheikh Rehana, as the head of the Awami League.
Siddique’s involvement in corrupt enterprises
Following the 2013 general elections, Siddique and Jobaer launched an illegal casino business in Bangladesh, generating millions of takas monthly. They secretly brought skilled casino operators from Nepal under the guise of tourists. Proceeds from these casinos were reportedly funneled to Sheikh Rehana and her children, including Radwan Mujib Siddique Bobby and Azmina Siddiq, siblings of UK Labour Party MP Tulip Siddiq.
During the Awami League’s 15-year rule, Siddique and his family, including his wife and daughters, accumulated hundreds of millions of dollars through rampant corruption. They used their company, ‘Prochhaya Limited,’ as a front organization. Siddique even set up an office for ‘Prochhaya Limited’ in Dhaka’s Baridhara DOHS area, appointing Colonel (sacked) Shahid Uddin Khan as its chief executive officer. Through this setup, Siddique earned massive sums by influencing military promotions, transfers, and property acquisitions.
According to sources, ‘Prochhaya Limited’ was also linked to transnational drug trafficking and had ties with Dawood Ibrahim’s criminal network, “D-Company.” In 2017, when Shahid Uddin Khan sought a larger share of illicit profits, Siddique, with TM Jobaer’s help, implicated him in legal troubles, leading to his inclusion in Interpol’s Red Notice.
Siddique’s network of influence
After the 2013 general elections, Siddique founded the ‘Center for Research and Information’ (CRI) to expand his influence within Hasina’s government. Following Hasina’s ouster on August 5, the CRI website and all content on its YouTube channel mysteriously disappeared.
CRI board members included:
Sajeeb Wazed Joy (Sheikh Hasina’s son, residing in the United States)
Saima Wazed Putul (Hasina’s daughter, currently WHO’s Regional Director)
Radwan Mujib Siddiq Bobby (Sheikh Rehana’s son and Tulip Siddiq’s elder brother)
Azmina Siddiq (Sheikh Rehana’s daughter and Tulip Siddiq’s younger sister)
Nasrul Hamid Bipu (Influential minister, accused of large-scale corruption in the energy sector)
Sabbir Bin Shams
Junaid Ahmed Polok (Minister facing multiple criminal charges)
M A Arafat Rahman (Minister and key figure behind CRI’s propaganda operations)
Shahriar Alam Joy (Minister involved in rigging the 2018 and 2024 elections and mastermind behind bringing bogus international election observers during 2018 and 2024 elections. Alam also funded and used an obscure website named ‘EU Reporter’ for running propaganda, while one of the members of this website was brought into Bangladesh as international election observer)
Nahim Razzak
Shah Ali Farhad
Tonmoy Ahmed
Tamzid Taher
Ashraful Alam Khokon
Ashraful Bitu
Rupok.
Before the 2024 elections, CRI, under M A Arafat Rahman, successfully published numerous articles in Bangladeshi and international media defaming Awami League’s political opponents. Fact-checkers later exposed these articles as fraudulent, revealing that all the supposed authors were fictitious. The involved media outlets removed the articles, yet Arafat and his associates pocketed substantial sums from CRI’s funds under the pretense of paying the “authors”.
Post-Hasina power struggles
Following Hasina’s ouster, Tarique Ahmed Siddique is aggressively attempting to restructure the Awami League with Sheikh Rehana as its new leader, aiming to consolidate his control over the party. Meanwhile, M A Arafat Rahman has turned to social media, managing platforms like ‘Bangladesh Awami League Media Cell’ and ‘Awami Youth Alliance’. These accounts, run by Arafat’s loyalists, openly reject Hasina’s leadership.
After news of Arafat’s silent expulsion from the Awami League broke, one of his paid supporters posted on ‘X’ (formerly Twitter), stating:
“If any allegations are made against Arafat, at least 10-15 thousand Awami League workers will leave within an hour”.
This message was a direct threat to Hasina, signaling that Arafat holds significant control over the party’s online presence and could cause internal chaos if removed.
Beyond social media, Arafat has also circulated emails to UK media exposing corruption involving Radwan Mujib Siddiq Bobby and Azmina Siddiq, both siblings of Tulip Siddiq. Additionally, he has alerted the World Health Organization about Saima Wazed Putul’s conflict of interest, as she holds an official CRI position despite being WHO’s regional director. Furthermore, Arafat is reportedly orchestrating a smear campaign against Sajeeb Wazed Joy using pseudonymous articles.
Arafat’s rise to power and wealth
Arafat, formerly a college teacher, became a billionaire between 2009 and 2024, leveraging Sheikh Hasina and her son’s names to engage in massive financial crimes. CRI served as his “Aladdin’s magic lamp”, enabling him to establish himself as a powerful figure in Bangladesh. Now, after his expulsion from the Awami League, he is actively working to destabilize those he once served.
The unfolding internal feud within the Awami League reveals a party on the brink of collapse, with once-loyal figures now engaged in bitter power struggles, corruption, and betrayal. As Sheikh Hasina faces unprecedented challenges from her former allies, including those who once controlled the country’s security apparatus, the fate of the party – and by extension, Bangladesh’s political future – remains uncertain. With high-ranking officials and influential figures now working against each other, the Awami League is no longer a united front but a battleground of competing interests. If these conflicts continue unchecked, the party risks imploding, leaving Bangladesh vulnerable to political instability, foreign influence, and further internal chaos. The coming months will determine whether the Awami League can survive its internal fractures or if it will become a cautionary tale of power, greed, and betrayal at the highest levels.
(The writer is an internationally acclaimed multi-award-winning journalist, writer, research-scholar, and Editor of Blitz)
