Last Updated on November 13, 2025 8:02 pm by INDIAN AWAAZ
Zakir Hossain from Dhaka
The central office of the banned Awami League in Dhaka’s Gulistan area was vandalised and set on fire on Thursday afternoon, as tensions mounted ahead of the verdict in former prime minister Sheikh Hasina’s trial.
Eyewitnesses said a group of protesters entered the deserted office around 1pm, chanting anti-Awami League slogans before vandalising and torching banners and furniture.
The Awami League, whose activities were banned after Hasina’s ouster, had announced a series of protest programmes from November 10–13, including a “Dhaka Lockdown” on Thursday, to coincide with the verdict announcement.
Despite police patrols in the area, Paltan Police Station Inspector (Investigation) Moniruzzaman Sheikh said, “We are not aware of any reports of vandalism or arson.”
The Gulistan building, abandoned since the August 5, 2024 uprising, when Hasina fled the country, had become a derelict structure occasionally used by vagrants. Earlier this year, self-proclaimed “students” had announced plans to turn it into an “Anti-Fascism Research Centre.”
Meanwhile, Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) said it had arrested 43 Awami League activists across the capital in raids targeting “sabotage attempts and flash processions.”
The DMP statement said sporadic crude bomb blasts and vehicle torchings were reported in parts of Dhaka and other cities amid the banned party’s protest programmes.
Hasina’s trial for ordering a deadly crackdown during last year’s student uprising is reaching its final stage, with a verdict expected soon.