In September, I spent many days trying to get in touch with Ashraful Alom. I knew that Alom, an internet star better known by the moniker Hero Alom, had been making moves to get a foothold in Bangladesh's national politics. Earlier this year, as an independent candidate, he contested the by-polls for the Bogura parliamentary seat, only to lose by a slim margin. He made another attempt in July in the Dhaka-17 by-election. This election saw abysmal voter turnout, officially recorded at 11.5 percent, possibly because of the absence of the largest opposition party, the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP). Alom stood second after Mohammad A Arafat, the candidate of the ruling Awami League. Anticipating that Alom would want to play a role in upcoming general elections, I wanted to interview him about his near-term plans and long-term ambitions.
Alom is an odd figure in Bangladesh's politics. He rose to fame by producing flamboyant, loud, often cringeworthy and sometimes offensive music videos that made him both an online sensation and an object of ridicule. After the Dhaka-17 by-election, however, he seemed to emerge as a champion of democracy in Bangladesh. During the voting, Alom was attacked by a mob allegedly made up of supporters of the Awami League outside a polling booth. The incident exemplified the kind of violence that mars elections in Bangladesh. An editorial in The Daily Star said "the attack also reveals that Hero Alom was being seen as the lone challenger who really had a chance of beating the AL candidate, regardless of his social standing, educational background, and lack of a party's backing." The attack drew significant national attention and a number of Western missions to Bangladesh condemned it – including those of the United States, the United Kingdom and Canada.
When I reached out to Alom, he said he was busy and claimed threats were being made to his life but still agreed to the interview. At almost the appointed hour, he postponed our meeting by a day saying that he was going out of Dhaka on some urgent business. The next day, newspapers ran headlines announcing that Alom had joined the Muktijoddha Projonmo League as its cultural secretary. Alom claimed that the Muktijoddha Projonmo League was an organisation and not a political party, that it was not linked to the Awami League, and also that he would not contest elections as an independent candidate in the future, but only on a party ticket. Despite Alom's claims, the Muktijoddha Projonmo League is seen to be linked to the Awami League, often acting against its main rival, the BNP. Leading newspapers like The Daily Star describe the Muktijoddha Projonmo League as a pro-Awami League group.
Alom's switch is suggestive of the ways in which the Awami League deals with potential challengers. Among the many theories of why Alom joined the Muktijoddha Projonmo League is one that says he could have been protecting himself after receiving death threats and that being linked to the Awami League was better for his political prospects.