DHAKA, June 22 — Bangladesh has ordered the deployment of army personnel in Dhaka and five other districts ahead of the June 23 founding anniversary of the Awami League, escalating an already tense security environment around the activities-banned party’s planned observance.
The deployment, ordered under the “in aid to civil power” provision, will cover Dhaka, Gazipur, Narayanganj, Faridpur, Gopalganj and Chattogram. Officials said the measure will remain in effect until June 30, with troops assigned to support the civil administration and law enforcement agencies in areas considered politically sensitive.
The decision comes only days after the military was withdrawn from nationwide field duties on June 15, ending a prolonged deployment that began after the upheaval surrounding the August 2024 political changeover. The renewed use of the army, even for a limited period, has sharpened debate over whether the government is responding to specific security threats or using extraordinary measures to suppress the political expression of a party that remains one of Bangladesh’s most historically consequential political forces.
Home Minister Salahuddin Ahmed said Monday that the army had been deployed on the basis of intelligence information and that the measure was intended to prevent disorder.
Speaking to journalists at the Home Ministry in the Secretariat on Monday, June 22, he said: “We have seen them carrying out processions and meetings in different districts of the country. This has led us to believe that they may attempt to create disorder.”
He said army personnel had been given magistracy powers until June 30 so that any “untoward situation” could be handled swiftly. The minister added that the government would take assistance from the Border Guard Bangladesh or the army whenever necessary.
The Home Ministry’s Political Branch-2 also sent a letter to the Principal Staff Officer of the Armed Forces Division requesting troop deployment. The letter cited intelligence reports warning that organizations whose activities have been banned could try to hold unlawful rallies, stage showdowns or carry out sabotage around the Awami League’s anniversary.
Officials said the warning referred to the possibility of clashes, disruption of public order and damage to life and property in the targeted districts.
Security Alert Across the Country
The army deployment follows a nationwide alert issued by Police Headquarters on June 18. The directive instructed all police units to remain vigilant and take preventive measures ahead of the anniversary.
According to the police communication, Awami League leaders and activists may try to hoist party flags at local offices and bring out processions carrying anniversary banners. Police Headquarters warned that such programs could trigger confrontations with rival political forces, especially activists of the National Citizen Party and the Anti-Discrimination Student Movement.
The warning also said Awami League activists could become hostile toward law enforcement personnel if obstructed from carrying out such programs.
Dhaka Metropolitan Police has separately announced one of the capital’s largest recent security operations. More than 18,000 police officers and personnel are to be deployed across Dhaka on June 23. The DMP said it would set up more than 200 strategic checkpoints and pickets, strengthen searches at the city’s entry points, and keep specialized units active throughout the day.
The Detective Branch, Counter Terrorism and Transnational Crime unit, Special Branch and Internal Affairs Division will conduct intelligence operations, including plainclothes monitoring. Fifteen Quick Response Teams will remain on standby, while reserve forces will be kept ready at four major control rooms.
At a briefing at the DMP Media Centre on Minto Road in Dhaka on Friday, June 19, DMP Additional Commissioner for Crime and Operations S. N. Md. Nazrul Islam said police had not identified a specific security threat but were maintaining heightened vigilance.
“June 23 marks the founding anniversary of a political party. We are maintaining a vigilant position surrounding the occasion,” he told reporters.
He added that security checkpoints and other arrangements would remain in place to protect public safety.
Flash Processions and Arrests
The security measures come after a series of flash processions by Awami League and affiliated activists in Dhaka and several districts, despite the ban on party activities.
On Sunday morning, police arrested 10 leaders and activists of the banned Awami League and its associate bodies from the College Gate area in Dhaka’s Mohammadpur. Mohammadpur Police Station Officer-in-Charge Kazi Rafique Ahmed told Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha that the arrests were made around 8:30 a.m. while the group was bringing out a sudden procession.
“We arrested them at around 8:30am while they were bringing out a sudden procession in the College Gate area,” he said.
Police identified the detainees as Sajeeb Sardar, Md Nazir Hossain, Md Kabir, Kalam Farazi, Ali Raj Hossain, Md Kabir Hossain, Md Swapan, Md Siraj, Helal Hossain and Asad Uddin.
In Gazipur, Jubo League activists held a procession Sunday morning under the banner of Gazipur City Jubo League. The procession took place near Columbia Garments on the Dhaka-Mymensingh highway. A video circulating on social media showed participants carrying a banner marking the Awami League’s 77th founding anniversary and calling for the withdrawal of the ban on the party.
The video also appeared to show protesters shouting threats at approaching police. Basan Police Station Officer-in-Charge Harunur Rashid later told Prothom Alo that police had seen the video and were verifying whether it was recorded that day or during an earlier incident.
In Chattogram, more than 100 leaders and activists of the banned Chhatra League reportedly brought out a flash procession at the GEC intersection on June 1. Videos showed participants chanting “Joy Bangla” and “Sheikh Hasina will return.” Police later said those involved would be identified and arrested.
In Sylhet, police arrested four Awami League-linked activists after a flash procession on June 16. Local reports said 40 to 50 activists marched through the Nawab Road area, chanting “Joy Bangla” and carrying banners demanding the lifting of the party ban, the release of “political prisoners” and the withdrawal of what they described as “false cases.”
These processions have become a visible sign that the Awami League’s grassroots network, though under intense pressure, has not disappeared. For the government, the sudden gatherings are being treated as potential triggers for unrest. For many Awami League supporters, they are attempts to show that a party deeply tied to Bangladesh’s independence history still retains organizational strength despite arrests, restrictions and political exclusion.
Arrests in Barisal and Other Districts
Police have also intensified operations against Awami League-linked leaders and activists outside Dhaka.
In Barisal, Metropolitan Police arrested 77 people during a 24-hour drive from Friday morning to Saturday morning. Local reports said the detainees included 19 leaders, activists and supporters of the Awami League, Jubo League and Chhatra League.
Among those arrested were Barisal Metropolitan Awami League Organizing Secretary Nur Uddin Shahin, Treasurer Touhidul Islam and former ward councilor Zainal Abedin.
Kotwali Model Police Station Officer-in-Charge Al Mamun Ul Islam said Saturday that the special drive was conducted to maintain law and order, control crime and arrest wanted accused persons.
“The special operation of police is continuing to keep the city’s law and order situation normal, control crime and arrest accused persons with warrants,” he said.
He said similar operations would continue and urged residents to provide information about criminal activity.
Police officials have presented the operations as preventive law-and-order measures. But the timing, scale and political focus of the arrests have raised serious questions about whether ordinary political activity is being treated as a security threat when linked to the Awami League.
A Historic Party Under Ban
The Awami League was founded on June 23, 1949, at Rose Garden in old Dhaka as the Awami Muslim League. It later dropped the word “Muslim” as part of a secular political evolution and emerged as the principal vehicle of Bengali nationalism. Under the leadership of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the party played a central role in the Six-Point movement, the 1969 mass uprising, the 1970 election victory and Bangladesh’s 1971 Liberation War.
For many Bangladeshis, the party’s founding anniversary is not simply a partisan date. It is tied to the country’s political birth, secular identity and struggle for national self-determination. That history now stands in stark contrast to the government’s decision to ban the party’s activities and suspend its electoral registration.
In May 2025, the interim government banned all activities of the Awami League and its affiliated organizations under the Anti-Terrorism Act, pending proceedings linked to the 2024 protest deaths. Hours later, the Election Commission suspended the party’s registration, effectively barring it from contesting elections unless the suspension is lifted.
Election Commission Secretary Akhtar Ahmed told reporters late on May 12, 2025, after the Home Ministry ban was issued: “With the home ministry’s ban on all activities of the Awami League and its affiliated organisations, the Election Commission has decided to suspend the party’s registration.”
The decision removed one of Bangladesh’s two historically dominant political parties from formal electoral competition and deepened concern over whether a stable democratic order can be built by excluding a major political tradition from public life.
The current BNP-led government of Prime Minister Tarique Rahman, which took office after the February 2026 election, has maintained the restrictions first imposed under the previous interim administration. The government argues that the measures are necessary to preserve order and allow legal proceedings over the 2024 violence to continue.
But critics say the continuation of the ban risks normalizing political exclusion and collective punishment. They argue that accountability for specific crimes must be pursued through evidence, fair trials and due process, not through a blanket restriction on political association.
Rights Concerns and Political Space
International rights groups have raised concerns about the scope of the ban and the wider pattern of arrests.
In a public statement issued on May 23, 2025, Amnesty International said the ban “brings into question the commitment of this government to uphold the rights to freedom of association and expression.” The organization said the blanket ban and the subsequent suspension of the party’s registration failed to meet the strict standards required under international human rights law.
Human Rights Watch, in its World Report 2026, said the interim government arbitrarily detained thousands of perceived political opponents and banned the Awami League in May 2025. It also noted that politically motivated and arbitrary detentions, which had become entrenched under the previous Awami League government, continued under the interim government, including cases involving hundreds of unnamed accused.
The Congressional Research Service has also noted concerns over Bangladesh’s fragile political environment after the 2026 election. It cited international observers who described the election administration as technically sound while warning that the broader political environment remained fragile. CRS also noted that some analysts questioned whether an election without Awami League participation could be considered fully credible.
These assessments place the June 23 security operation in a wider context. The issue is no longer only whether the Awami League can hold a procession on its anniversary. It is whether Bangladesh can reconcile public order, accountability and democratic inclusion at a moment when one of the country’s central political forces remains pushed outside formal politics.
A Test for the Government
The government faces a real responsibility to prevent violence, protect citizens and stop any act of sabotage. Threats against police, crude bomb allegations or violent confrontations cannot be dismissed as harmless political expression.
But a democratic government must also distinguish between violence and political symbolism. Hoisting a party flag, chanting slogans, holding a procession or observing a founding anniversary should not automatically be treated as a threat to the state unless authorities can show specific evidence of criminal intent.
That distinction is especially important in Bangladesh, where the politics of exclusion has repeatedly fueled cycles of confrontation. The Awami League itself was accused during its years in power of shrinking space for opponents. The present government now faces the test of whether it will break that cycle or reproduce it under a different banner.
As June 23 approaches, Dhaka and several other districts are entering a period of militarized vigilance. Police checkpoints, army patrols, intelligence monitoring and mass arrests may prevent immediate disorder. But they cannot resolve the deeper political crisis created by the continued exclusion of a party with deep roots in the country’s history.
The Awami League’s 77th founding anniversary therefore arrives not as a routine political commemoration, but as a measure of Bangladesh’s democratic direction. The government may succeed in preventing street unrest this week. The larger question is whether it can restore confidence that law and order will not become a substitute for political freedom, due process and inclusive democracy.
