DHAKA, OCT 12 (AFP/APP): Once Bangladesh’s largest political party, the Awami League has been outlawed since its leader Sheikh Hasina was overthrown in a mass uprising last year.
Now, its supporters — encouraged by Hasina’s social media calls to “resist” — are staging flash mob protests defying the ban as the country prepares for elections from which the party is barred.
In the capital Dhaka, 45-year-old cleaner Mohammad Kashem described witnessing around 25 Awami League loyalists being chased, beaten and detained by police at one such rally.
“It’s happening all over Dhaka,” Kashem told AFP, saying videos of such spontaneous demonstrations appear constantly on social media.
“We see it every day on Facebook.”
The elections, expected in February 2026, will be the first since Hasina fled into exile in India as crowds stormed her palace, ending her 15-year rule.
She has since defied court orders to attend her ongoing trial on charges amounting to crimes against humanity for allegedly ordering a deadly crackdown during the revolt.
Her party and its supporters have since been pushed underground.
More than 800 have been arrested in connection with the flash mobs, officials say, which have rattled the interim government of Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus as he oversees the South Asian nation of 170 million until the polls.
– ‘Abandoned’ –
Still, they protest.
Some rallies consist of only a handful of young men. Others draw more than 100, chanting slogans.
“Sheikh Hasina is coming!” they shout, waving small placards or unfurling banners. “Bangladesh is smiling!”
They gather for a few minutes before vanishing into the crowds.
Sometimes, multiple flash protests erupt simultaneously in different parts of Dhaka. On one day, police arrested 244 people, authorities said.
The risks are high. In the rally Kashem witnessed, several protesters were badly beaten.
“Stupid boys,” Kashem said. “The heavyweight leaders abandoned them… yet they’re risking their lives.”
The protests have unnerved Yunus’s government.
“The fascists have turned reckless, as they can see that the country is heading towards an election and the trial process (of Hasina) is progressing fast,” Yunus’s press secretary Shafiqul Alam told reporters last month.
“The government has decided to strengthen the monitoring of flash processions and other illegal gatherings.”
Hasina remains vocal on social media, issuing broadsides against Yunus and urging loyalists to “resist”.
Bangladeshi newspapers, quoting a senior party leader in hiding, reported at least 20 flash processions in the past month.
Dhaka police spokesman Md Talebur Rahman could not confirm the number of protests, but said “more than 800 people” had been arrested in connection with them.
Political analyst Zahed Ur Rahman, a member of the government’s electoral reform commission, said Hasina was risking protesters’ safety to maintain relevance.
“She is trying to earn sympathy by widely sharing the beatings, chases, dispersals and arrests of her party members,” Zahed told AFP.
