Two days after the election, a small group gathered at the central office in Gulistan, raised the national flag, and paid homage to Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.
Two days after the national election, a group hoisted the national flag in front of the Bangladesh Awami League central office in Gulistan, Dhaka, and paid tribute to Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.
Around noon on Saturday, seven to eight individuals arrived at the office building and offered their respects.
A nearby sidewalk trader said the group carried the national flag, saluted Bangabandhu and Awami League leaders, tied the flag to an electric pole, and then left. However, when reporters later visited the site, the flag was no longer there.
Salimullah Bepari, a cloth merchant on the sidewalk, told bdnews24.com that he had stopped to watch the group’s actions.
“Seven or eight people came. They all do different kinds of work—some are rickshaw pullers, some run sidewalk businesses, and others are hawkers,” he said.
Salimullah said he had spoken with the group. “They told me, ‘Now there are no Razakars to stop us. They used to prevent us from coming here. Now that they have lost, we have come to hoist the flag,’” he added.
Other bystanders said they did not witness the event directly but heard about it. When asked why the flag was no longer there, they suggested someone might have taken it down.
Office Left Abandoned After Uprising
Following the mass uprising on August 5 last year that led to the fall of the Awami League government, the party’s 10-storey office on Bangabandhu Avenue in Gulistan was vandalized and set on fire by protesters.
Since then, the building has remained abandoned, accumulating garbage. It reportedly became a shelter and makeshift toilet for the homeless, rickshaw pullers, van drivers, and pedestrians. At times, it also became a hangout for drug users.
Later, a group of vagrants occupied the building, followed by another faction identifying themselves as “students,” who took control last July and announced plans to establish a research institute there.
A red banner at the main gate reads: “International Institute for Research on Fascism and Genocide.” However, the government has not issued any formal announcement regarding such an institute.
Political Changes and Renaming of the Avenue
Amid broader political shifts after the government’s fall, several streets and establishments were renamed. Bangabandhu Avenue is now called Shaheed Abrar Fahad Avenue, after Abrar Fahad.
In addition to the central office, the Dhaka District Awami League office in Tejgaon and the Awami League president’s office in Dhanmondi were also vandalized and set on fire. All three buildings have remained abandoned since then.
In May of last year, the Awami League was banned from carrying out political activities, which prevented the party from participating in the 13th National Parliamentary Election.
Since the government’s fall, Awami League leaders and activists have occasionally attempted to hold events, including flash processions across Dhaka. Most recently, on November 13 last year, further vandalism and arson occurred at the central office building during an online-declared “lockdown” program.
After Sheikh Hasina took charge of the party in 1981, the Awami League’s central office was located at 23 Bangabandhu Avenue. The current 10-storey building was completed in 2018.
Local hawkers and traders noted that even before Thursday’s parliamentary election and referendum, the presence of vagrants around the building had declined. The so-called “student” group that had named the place the International Institute for Research on Fascism and Genocide is also no longer seen.
