On Sunday, leaders and activists of the Awami League (whose activities are banned) and its affiliated organizations staged a large open procession and rally in Gopalganj town.
They carried traditional local weapons, including bamboo poles and oars (logi-baitha), sticks, machetes (ramda), Chinese axes, spears, and tridents. Some wore helmets. Reports described participation by thousands of people, including a significant number of women (one account put the total above 20,000, including women and children).
Activists began arriving from surrounding unions and areas in the morning by motorcycle, van, bus, and truck. They gathered near Shishu Park and the BSCIC area before moving through Launch Ghat, Mohila College, Shilpakala Academy, and other parts of the town from roughly 11 a.m. to 1:45–2 p.m.
They broke police barricades and entered various roads while chanting slogans such as “Joy Bangla, Joy Bangabandhu,” “Sheikh Hasina will come, Bangladesh will smile,” and “Joy Sheikh Hasina.”
During the march they:
- Vandalized a police armored personnel carrier (APC), smashing its rear-view mirror and writing “Joy Bangla” on it in red paint, and damaged a police box.
- Demolished and set fire to the July Memorial (July Smritistambha) near Launch Ghat / adjacent to Sheikh Kamal Stadium.
- Damaged the nameplate of Hadi Chattar (Square) at Gopalganj Science and Technology University and restored an earlier name (“Joy Bangla Chattar” or “Muktijoddha Chattar” in different accounts).
- Erased the nameplate at the main gate of Gopalganj Government College and put up a banner reading “Sarkari Bangabandhu College” / “Government Bangabandhu College,” restoring the institution’s former name.
- Unlocked the long-closed district Awami League office and celebrated.
- Smashed the glass of the FNF supermarket, tore down and burned BNP banners/festoons in front of the municipality, and set tires, bamboo, and wood alight at Launch Ghat, the college, the Press Club, and other spots.
- Chhatra League leaders Raju Khan and Shamsul Haque addressed a gathering at Launch Ghat.
The demonstration formed part of a broader Awami League program running roughly 14–19 November to press an eight-point demand list (including withdrawal of cases against Sheikh Hasina, lifting restrictions on the party, release of political detainees, and related measures) and to build momentum for a nationwide dawn-to-dusk lockdown on 19 November.
Under the lockdown call, transport, shops, factories, offices, banks, courts, and educational institutions are to remain closed (emergency services exempted).
The Awami League has been under a comprehensive ban on political activities (including online and social-media activity) since May 2025, imposed by the Muhammad Yunus-led interim government under the Anti-Terrorism Act pending trials related to the 2024 July uprising; the Election Commission also suspended the party’s registration. This was reported as the first open public procession by the banned party in Gopalganj since the ban. Gopalganj is the home district of former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.
Heavy security was in place, with police, Border Guard Bangladesh (reports of six platoons), SRB, and APBN personnel deployed, plus heightened intelligence surveillance, especially around Launch Ghat, markets, and the District Commissioner’s office. Police presence was noted at key points but they largely did not actively intervene. Shops closed amid fear, rickshaw and van traffic was disrupted, and normal movement was affected; the situation began to ease after the marchers dispersed around 1:30–2 p.m.
This followed earlier tensions in the district. On and around 10 November, during a nationwide strike called by the banned Chhatra League, there were road blockades, arson, vandalism, crude-bomb explosions, and a police vehicle set on fire in Tungipara.
Cases under the Anti-Terrorism Act have been filed naming hundreds of Awami League and affiliate activists (one case listed 153 named and hundreds unidentified; another cited 453 total). Arrests were reported in connection with those incidents.