Dhaka: Supporters of Bangladesh's banned Awami League party staged demonstrations in the hometown of deposed prime minister Sheikh Hasina on Sunday, breaking police barricades, carrying weapons and vandalising public property amid political tensions over her stated plan to return to the country in December.
Hundreds of activists took to the streets of Gopalganj, carrying machetes, spears, axes, wooden poles and oars. They vandalised a police armoured personnel carrier (APC), damaged a police box and set tyres on fire at several locations, according to local media reports.
The protests came amid renewed political tensions over Hasina's proposed return from India, where she has been staying since fleeing Bangladesh in August 2024 following a student-led uprising that toppled her government.
Hasina was sentenced to death in absentia by Bangladesh's International Crimes Tribunal in November 2025 for crimes against humanity over her government's crackdown on protesters. She has rejected the charges and questioned the legitimacy of the proceedings.
The 79-year-old former prime minister has repeatedly said since July that she intends to return to Bangladesh in December and face legal proceedings, despite the death sentence against her.
The Bangladesh government has been seeking her extradition from India under a bilateral treaty. Her lawyers have also approached the Bangladesh High Commission in New Delhi seeking a new passport and national identity card to facilitate her return. However, Bangladeshi officials have maintained that any return would have to follow the applicable legal and extradition procedures.
Law Minister Md Asaduzzaman said on Saturday that Bangladesh had completed the legal process to secure Hasina's return and that the decision now rested with India.
Bangladesh has also linked progress on Hasina's extradition to a possible visit to India by Prime Minister Tarique Rahman, saying her return and that of other fugitives sought by Dhaka would help create a conducive environment for the visit.
India has acknowledged receiving Bangladesh's extradition requests but has not announced a decision.
On Friday, Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said in New Delhi that Hasina's extradition was a legal matter and would be dealt with accordingly.
Awami League supporters demand Hasina's return
During Sunday's demonstrations, activists vandalised the mmorial, erected to commemorate the 2024 uprising that led to Hasina's ouster. They also damaged public installations, removed nameplates at educational institutions and broke through police barricades to enter several roads in Gopalganj town. Women activists also participated in the demonstrations.
"Our movement on the streets will continue until we can bring former prime minister and Bangabandhu's (Bangladesh's founding father Sheikh Mujibur Rahman) daughter Sheikh Hasina back to the country," Awami League's Gopalganj district leader Ilyas Haque told a party rally.
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The demonstrations followed reports that two offices of the ruling Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) and its affiliated organisations in Tungipara, Hasina's birthplace in Gopalganj, were vandalised and set on fire by unidentified persons overnight.
The unrest prompted the government to transfer the district's deputy commissioner and police superintendent.
Home Minister Salahuddin Ahmed said law enforcement agencies were determined to prevent sabotage and terrorism.
Authorities also deployed six platoons of paramilitary Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) personnel to assist other security forces in maintaining law and order in Gopalganj, considered an Awami League stronghold.
The situation in Gopalganj was discussed at a Cabinet meeting chaired by Prime Minister Tarique Rahman on Sunday. The prime minister also met senior party leaders at Parliament, the Prothom Alo newspaper reported.
Quoting BNP leaders familiar with the meeting, the newspaper said Rahman had asked party activists to "remain active" on the ground.
"The government will not let the situation spiral out of control," Prothom Alo quoted a Home Ministry official as saying.
The official said authorities would monitor the situation and increase the deployment of law enforcement personnel depending on developments.
