Tensions are rising in Bangladesh as an unknown group identifying itself as the International Institute on Fascism and Genocide has taken control of the Awami League headquarters in central Dhaka. The move comes just days before the anniversary of the student-led uprising that ousted former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on August 5, 2024.
The group has begun a sweeping cleanup of the 10-story building on Bangabandhu Avenue without official permission. Supervisors of the activity claim they are “cleansing the remnants of fascism” and preparing the building to serve as a rest house for future leaders of the anti-Hasina movement.
A large banner bearing the name International Institute on Fascism and Genocide now hangs from the façade of the iconic building, once the nerve center of Bangladesh’s oldest and most influential political party.
The interim government led by Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus, which took power following Hasina’s ouster last year, has since banned all Awami League political activity. In the aftermath of the regime change, protesters burned several Awami League offices, dismantled monuments to Hasina and her father Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, and even demolished the historic 32 Dhanmondi residence—formerly a museum honoring Bangladesh’s founding leader.
This symbolic “occupation” of the Awami League headquarters is being seen as part of a broader campaign to erase the legacy of Sheikh Hasina’s decades-long political dominance. While the legitimacy and motives of the new group remain unclear, their actions underline the profound shifts occurring in Bangladesh’s political landscape.