Awami League Central Office Set on Fire Again
The central office of the banned Awami League on Bangabandhu Avenue in the capital was set on fire this afternoon, just hours before the party's called "Dhaka lockdown" and the announcement of a key verdict date in the crimes against humanity trial of ousted Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. The blaze erupted around 1:00pm on Thursday, with eyewitnesses reporting 10–15 individuals gathering wood, paper cartons, and other materials on the fourth floor before igniting them. When the flames subsided, the group reignited the fire. As of 1:15pm, the situation remained volatile.
The incident echoes the violence that followed Hasina's fall on August 5, 2024, when the same building, along with the Dhaka district Awami League office in Tejgaon and the party president's office in Dhanmondi, were torched and looted. Furniture, documents, and valuables were ransacked throughout August, leaving all three sites largely abandoned since.
The attack comes amid escalating unrest centered on the Awami League's online-declared lockdown for November 13, protesting the "Yunus government" and alleged sham trials. The lockdown coincides with the International Crimes Tribunal-1's announcement of the verdict date in Hasina's first crimes against humanity case, stemming from the July 2024 uprising that killed over 1,400 and injured 30,000–35,000. The tribunal, led by Justice Md Golam Mortuza Majumdar, with members Justice Md Shafiqul Alam Mahmud and Judge Md Mohitul Haque Enam Chowdhury, fixed the date today after 103 days of hearings concluding October 23.
BNP, Jamaat-e-Islami, and allied parties have positioned activists at key points across Dhaka since Thursday, with processions reported in various areas. No casualties from the fire, but it has heightened fears in a city already on edge.
Prosecutors seek maximum punishment for Hasina under superior command responsibility for inciting 1,400 killings. The trial, the first of five against her, exposed army incitement for civil war via 54 witness testimonies.
Hasina, in exile in India, faces additional cases for disappearances, torture, and Shapla Chattar killings.
