Dhaka-17 By-polls: Hero Alom Asks EC to Re-vote

Popular YouTuber Ashraful Alam, also known as Hero Alom, who ran in the Dhaka-17 by-election, made a request for a re-vote in an appeal to the Election Commission (EC) today. 

After sending a formal request to the EC on July 23, he informed journalists, "There was vote rigging in the by-polls."

Hero Alom, who lost the Dhaka-17 by-election to Mohammad A Arafat, an Awami League candidate, was attacked on July 17 at approximately 3:00 pm when he went to the voting location at Banani's Bidyaniketan School and College grounds.

Locals on the scene said that Alom was snapping photographs with admirers when a group of individuals approached him and told him it was inappropriate for him to be shooting TikTok video at that hour or in that location. They pursued him and violently attacked him after he reacted.

As a result of the intervention of law authorities, Alom was able to drive away.

An accusation has been made in relation to the assault on Hero Alom against 15–20 unidentified people.

From Hero Alom's village of Bogura, Sujan Rahman Shuvo, 25, brought the lawsuit on accusations of assault. Sujan said that many persons assaulted him in an effort to kill him.

"My life is in danger. I am afraid for my life. A group of people even visited my home and looked for me. They misbehaved with the guard," Hero Alam said during a press briefing from the hospital on Wednesday (19 July). 

"8 to 10 men went to my house and shouted 'Alam come out,'" he added. 

He also said that the police administration is responsible for the lack of security. 

"If the police had picked me up in a car on the day I was attacked, I would have been saved from the attack," he said. 

On July 17, about 3 p.m., Hero Alom was attacked after visiting the voting location at Banani's Bidyaniketan School and College grounds.

The attack on Hero Alom has drawn condemnation from Western nations. 

"We condemn the 17 July attack on Dhaka-17 constituency candidate Ashraful Alam," said high commissioners and ambassadors of the United Kingdom, United States, the delegation of the European Union, Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, in a joint statement on Tuesday (18 July).

The statement states, "Everyone involved in the upcoming elections should make sure they are free, fair, and peaceful."

The United Nations has voiced alarm over the attack on Hero Alam in addition to a flurry of condemnations from regional organizations.

The attack on Hero Alom has also been denounced by Amnesty International.