In recent times, Bangladesh witnessed a nationwide wave of student protests, sparking intense political unrest. The ruling Awami League, in an attempt to suppress the movement, deployed its loyal factions, including Chhatra League and Jubo League, along with law enforcement agencies. The crackdown resulted in the deaths of hundreds of students across the country, with thousands more injured. Facing mounting pressure from the relentless student protests, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina fled the country on August 5.

During this period of turmoil, Mashrafe Bin Mortaza, the MP for Narail-2 and a former star cricketer, remained completely silent. His lack of response led to his house being set on fire by miscreants after Sheikh Hasina's departure. The attack caused extensive damage, reducing many of Mashrafe's treasured awards, trophies, and memorabilia from his long cricketing career to ashes. Despite this, Mashrafe expressed no regrets over the loss of his possessions. Instead, his only regret was not standing by the students during their protests.

In an interview with an online news portal, Mashrafe reflected on his silence, saying, "There is no point in explaining or justifying things now. If I have to be direct, then yes, I completely failed to meet the expectations of many people."

He continued, "When the movement for quota reform was happening, it seemed logical to me. I thought it would be resolved. But by the time everyone expected me to say something or make a statement on Facebook, everything was happening so fast... I was thinking about the potential consequences of writing or commenting... I was contemplating many things, and in the end, I didn’t write anything."

Mashrafe emphasized that it wasn't that he didn’t try to do something. "I didn’t want to just make a statement. I wanted to talk to the students, see if anything could be resolved through discussion. I tried from the beginning because I found their demands to be logical. But I couldn’t make it happen. Ultimately, I failed."

When asked about his silence, the former national cricket team captain explained, "Look, I’ve been playing cricket since childhood, eventually made it to the national team, and later became the captain. When the team lost or performed poorly, I had to take responsibility as the captain. I’ve always taken that responsibility. You can recall, I’ve taken responsibility as a captain when we lost matches. But politics is a different field."

"In politics, I am not the captain of my team. I’m not the vice-captain, not even a senior figure. I’ve only been involved in politics for a few years. I’ve tried from my position. I tried to create a space for dialogue with the students as much as I could. But when you don’t get the opportunity, there’s nothing more you can do. Perhaps, if I were part of the party’s advisory council or someone important, I would have been given more responsibility. Even then, I did what I could, but I didn’t get the chance."

Mashrafe added, "I won’t blame anyone. The responsibility is mine. Especially, I couldn’t fulfill the expectations people had because of their emotional attachment and love for cricketer Mashrafe. I couldn’t live up to that, and I accept that responsibility. I’ve failed, and it’s been tormenting me since the beginning. As a politician, I tried to do something but couldn’t succeed."

When asked if there were expectations for him to stand by the students, Mashrafe said, "If I had to do something outside of the party’s lines, I would have had to resign. If I had resigned at that time, I would have been praised now. But every situation has its own reality. If I had resigned, would something bigger have happened, or would the situation have worsened? I had to think about many things. If I share all my thoughts, there will be arguments for and against. But I had to consider many possible outcomes."

Mashrafe also highlighted his responsibility to the people of Narail-2, who had high hopes for him. "I had promised the people of Narail that I would work to take the region forward. What would I say to them? I had to think about many things."

"Many people told me that even a simple status update would have made the people of the country happy. But I felt that, as a Member of Parliament, my responsibility was greater. If I had been able to go to the students, there might have been an opportunity to resolve things or do something. If the students hadn’t responded to my call or ignored me, that would be a different matter. But at least I would have been clear in my own conscience that I had tried to do something. I tried, but I couldn’t. As I said before, I failed, and I accept the responsibility."