Slogans raised as activists place Bangabandhu portrait at Awami League's Dhanmondi office gate

“We took a bit of a risk by going there today,” says a leader of the Jubo Mohila League

A group of leaders of the banned Jubo Mohila League gathered in front of the Awami League president’s political office in Dhaka's Dhanmondi, placing the national flag and a portrait of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman at the main gate and chanting slogans.

Around 8:30am on Friday, 10 to 12 activists were seen outside House 51 on Road 3/A in Dhanmondi.

The three-storey building had served as the political office of the Awami League president since 2002. It housed rooms for senior party leaders, while the second floor accommodated the party’s mouthpiece Uttaran and the third floor was used for activities of the Awami League’s election management committee.

After returning to power in 2009, the Awami League purchased the building in the party’s name. In 2014, following its re-election, two adjacent four-storey buildings were acquired under the Bangabandhu Memorial Trust to expand the office complex.

On Aug 5, 2024, during a mass uprising that ended the Awami League’s 15-year rule, the Dhanmondi office was attacked and set on fire after being vandalised. The buildings have remained largely unused since.

In May last year, the interim government banned the activities of the Awami League and its affiliated organisations, including the Jubo Mohila League.

Despite the ban, the activists briefly assembled at the gate on Friday, hung the flag and portrait, chanted slogans and then left.

When contacted, a leader of the organisation told bdnews24.com by phone: “We took a bit of a risk by going there today.”

She also said she hoped the Awami League office in Dhanmondi would “come alive again.”