A red banner has been hung on the abandoned Awami League headquarters in Dhaka’s Gulistan. It bears the inscription: “International Institute for Research on Fascism and Genocide”.
Inside the building, cleaning work is under way. However, with Friday being a public holiday, workers were on leave and only a motor pump was being used to remove stagnant dirty water, reports bdnews24.com.
Matbor Ali, who is involved in the cleaning, said: “This place will become an institute to study fascism and genocide. It will all become apparent once the clean-up is done by the 31st of July.”
However, the government has not made any official announcement about establishing such an institute.
After the Awami League regime was toppled by mass uprising on Aug 5 last year, the party headquarters on Bangabandhu Avenue in Gulistan was stormed by protesters. The 10-storey building was ransacked and set on fire.
Since then, the building has remained abandoned and strewn with garbage. It had even turned into a public toilet for the homeless, rickshaw pullers, van drivers, and passers-by, and a hangout spot for drug addicts.
The ground floor is so full of filth that workers are struggling to enter and clean the space.
“We began work on Wednesday. Since today is Friday, a holiday, the workers are off. We’ll resume tomorrow and aim to clear out the garbage by the 31st of July,” said Matbor.
A few people were sitting in front of the building. They said the site is being converted into an office named after those killed in the July Uprising.
Asked about the office’s name, a man named Sohrab Ali said: “It’s written on that red banner -- that’s what the office will be called.”
When asked who was cleaning the building, Sohrab added: “We’re not obliged to tell you everything just because you’re a journalist. You’ve come to report so see for yourself and and write about what you see.”
After the fall of the Sheikh Hasina government, the capital`s Bangabandhu Avenue was renamed in March as part of a broader change in political landmarks. It is now called Shahid Abrar Fahad Avenue.
In May, the interim government banned all activities of the Awami League and its affiliated organisations. The Election Commission also suspended the party’s registration, effectively barring one of the country’s oldest and most powerful parties, with six terms in office, from participating in future elections.
Across from the office, on the edge of Ramna Market, fruit vendor Ripon Mia sells hog plums from a pushcart. He said: “Students smashed up the Awami League office about a year ago. Now there’s no sign of the party left other than a broken piece of the boat (the party`s symbol).”
“In the past year, people dumped so much garbage here that the stench has hurt nearby businesses. It turned into a toilet for the homeless, rickshaw and van drivers, and passers-by. Drug addicts used to hang out here too.”
He continued, “A few days ago, I saw some young men talking about bringing in workers to clean the place. That`s all I know."
Sohrab, Standing next to Ripon, added: “This building has been lying like this for a year. It should’ve been dealt with long ago. It was the Awami League’s office but they disappeared. Naturally, someone or another would take notice eventually and that’s what’s happened.”
After the Liberation War, many abandoned buildings in Gulistan were left unused. Political parties set up offices in some of them. One of those was this building at 23 Bangabandhu Avenue, which served as the Awami League’s central office since 1981.
The old structure was demolished in 2016, and in its place, a 10-storey building was constructed in 2018.
The eight-katha plot was leased from the government in the 1980s for 99 years. A new building was constructed at a cost of Tk 100 million, and it became the party’s permanent headquarters.
On Jun 23, 2018, then prime minister and Awami League chief Hasina inaugurated the building. On Aug 5, 2024, the day Hasina stepped down as prime minister and fled to India, the structure was set ablaze. Afterwards, looters took everything, and the building has since remained largely abandoned.
