Armed with sticks, vehicles set ablaze: Sheikh Hasina supporters face-off with police; what triggered the violence?

At least four people died on Wednesday after Bangladesh's security forces clashed with Awami League supporters in ousted Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina 's hometown of Gopalganj.

According to reports, the violence erupted after the National Citizen Party , a new political party formed by students who led the uprising against Hasina, announced a rally in the district.

Following the rally's announcement, Awami League workers and activists allegedly took positions on the Gopalganj–Tekerhat road, blocking several routes by felling trees. Armed with local weapons, the activists set fire to a government vehicle and smashed another.

Gopalganj is a politically sensitive district as it houses the mausoleum of Hasina’s father.

Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the country’s independence leader, was buried there after he was assassinated—along with most of his family members—in a military coup in 1975.

Top developments

• Authorities imposed an overnight curfew after TV footage showed pro-Hasina activists attacking police with sticks and setting vehicles on fire, as a convoy of about 20 vehicles carrying leaders of the students' National Citizen Party arrived as part of commemorations of the uprising.
• Party leaders took shelter in the office of the local police chief. Footage showed top leaders being escorted by soldiers to an armored vehicle for safety. They later left for a neighboring district with security escorts.
• According to a senior official of a state-run hospital, the bodies of at least three people had been brought in. The country’s leading English-language newspaper, The Daily Star reported that four people died.
• The interim government said that the attackers on the students would not go “unpunished.” In a statement issued on behalf of interim leader Muhammad Yunus, the violence in Gopalganj was described as “utterly indefensible.”
• Hasina's Awami League party, which authorities banned in May, issued several statements on X condemning the violence and blaming the interim government for the deaths and injuries. “We urge the world to take note of this blatant use of security apparatus,” one Awami statement said, adding that it had used mob violence against “dissenters.”

Critics of the interim government warn of growing polarization that has diminished hopes for national reconciliation, even as Yunus’ administration pledges to bring order in the post-Hasina era. They say that if the situation does not improve, a peaceful transition to democracy could be jeopardized.

Nobel Peace Prize laureate Yunus took over the country three days after Hasina was toppled and fled to India, pledging to restore order. He has promised that a new election will be held in April next year.

Hasina now faces charges of crimes against humanity, while the government seeks her extradition from India, which has not yet responded to Bangladesh’s request.