Three Offices of Awami League Occupied
These three offices once experienced busy working days. Now they are in complete silence. Photo: Agamir Somoy
At Darul Fazl Market on Jubilee Road (No. 98), police presence is visible even before entering the building, pushing past street vendors and footpath encroachments. Officers are stationed on the second floor, where the Chattogram city Awami League office once operated. The guard, however, is not for the office itself but to prevent any gathering or activity at the premises of the now-banned political party.
Today marks the founding anniversary of the Awami League. Authorities had anticipated the possibility of sudden rallies or gatherings, prompting heightened nationwide security measures. Just two days earlier, Chattogram City College Chhatra League reportedly held a brief procession in front of Darul Fazl Market, further increasing security concerns.
Since the political transition in 2024, Awami League offices across Chattogram have remained abandoned, with no visible party activity. Instead, these spaces have repeatedly been targeted in attacks. The city’s three key organizational units—north, city, and south have all faced destruction or occupation at different times.
The city Awami League office at Darul Fazl Market has been vandalized and set on fire twice. Meanwhile, the Chattogram North District Awami League office at Dost Building, located a few hundred yards away, was taken over. The South District office at Teribazar intersection was burned down and is now fenced off with corrugated iron sheets.
Inside the Darul Fazl Market building, the second-floor office shows a broken door secured with wooden planks from the outside, while another door hangs shut with a rusted lock. Through shattered glass, several chairs are visible inside, covered in layers of dust. The space, once filled with daily political activity, now sits in complete disuse.
The signage reading ‘City Awami League Office’ has been removed. The front balcony has been occupied by stored plastic goods. Adjacent to the office is the Chattogram North District unit of the Bangladesh Muktijoddha Sangsad.
AHM Zilani Chowdhury briefly commented on the situation, saying their office had also been damaged following the political change and later reopened.
Mohammad Harun, who oversees the Chattogram city office of the Freedom Fighters’ Council, said both organizations’ offices were vandalized, with the Awami League office suffering the most damage, including arson attacks.
At Dost Building near New Market, the fourth floor once housed the Awami League North District committee office. After the political shift, the office was reportedly occupied on October 21 last year by members of the National Citizen Party (NCP), who wrote 'July 36' on the walls.
On April 16 this year, two individuals identified as Shaukatul Anam and Kazi Sabuj reportedly attempted to reclaim the office under a new Awami League banner, declaring it 'liberated' in a video circulated on social media. Following this, NCP members returned and removed the banner.
On Tuesday afternoon, a locked door was seen at the office, with ‘July 36’ still written on a window shutter. Another inscription on the wall claimed ownership of the room under a registered sale deed, listing the owners as Kazi Nazmul Huda and Ainul Huda. Attempts to contact the listed phone number were unsuccessful.
Around 1.5 kilometers away at Teribazar intersection, the South District Awami League office no longer exists. Only an empty plot remains where a tin-shed structure once stood.
Locals say the office was set on fire and demolished on August 6, 2024. Today, not a single tin sheet remains. A nearby worker said the materials were looted shortly after the destruction, and the site was later enclosed with temporary fencing.
Once, these three offices were bustling hubs of political activity, filled with meetings, gatherings, and daily movement of party workers. Today, they stand in silence—locked, burned, or erased.
