Chhatra Dal accepts responsibility for vandalism and sabotage at Dhanmondi 32 Number

❐ Special Correspondent

The Jatiyatabadi Chhatra Dal has admitted responsibility for the vandalism of the historic Bangabandhu Memorial Museum at Dhanmondi 32 and the demolition of Awami League political offices and houses of leaders and activists across the country.

Chhatra Dal central president Rakibul Islam Rakib said, “In July, Chhatra Dal, Jubo Dal and BNP stood at the forefront and built resistance. In that continuity, Chhatra Dal leaders and activists demolished and set fire to Awami League party offices across the country.”

He made these remarks in a speech delivered at the ‘July National Conference-2026’ organized at the Bangladesh-China Friendship Conference Center in Agargaon, Dhaka, on Saturday, July 4. This special conference was organized to mark the anniversary of the July-August movement.

During the violent moments of the movement and later, a group of protesters were seen organizing in the capital’s Dhanmondi area number 32. According to various videos and information circulating on social media at the time, a section of the Chhatra Dal who participated there chanted slogans—”I gave my word to Tarique Rahman, we took over number 32.”

However, at that time, Chhatra Dal’s central general secretary Nasir Uddin Nasir claimed in a statement that Chhatra Dal had no official program to vandalize Dhanmondi 32 and that it was an expression of the spontaneous anger of the common people.

However, in a recent statement by the party’s president Rakibul Islam Rakib, the public declaration of resisting the Awami League and its affiliates on the streets and the active participation of leaders and activists have been acknowledged.

According to political analysts, by claiming responsibility for these slogans and vandalism, the organization has acknowledged the credit for destroying the main symbolic power center of their long-time political opponent.

Not only Dhanmondi No. 32, but all the districts, upazilas and even union-ward levels outside Dhaka, no office of the Awami League and its affiliates and fraternal organizations was spared from sabotage. From the Awami League government’s members of parliament and ministers to elected public representatives, even the homes and business establishments of Awami League leaders and activists were not spared. Monuments of the Liberation War, museums, sculptures, murals, memorials, sculptures of the Father of the Nation Bangabandhu – all were destroyed in a planned attack.

These attacks have resulted in widespread vandalism and looting of valuables. In some places, there have been reports in the media of houses being razed to the ground by excavators or bulldozers.

Political analysts believe that this confession by the Chhatra Dal president places the responsibility for every incident on the Chhatra Dal.

While this public stance by the Chhatra Dal is being evaluated as ‘heroism’ on the streets within the BNP, questions have been raised among civil society and the general public about the tendency to take the law into their own hands.

On the one hand, efforts are being made to legitimize the movement as a final resistance against ‘fascists’ by claiming that 142 Chhatra Dal leaders and activists were killed to make it a success. On the other hand, many consider the culture of destruction and looting of state and private property due to political vendetta to be an obstacle to healthy politics.

However, the country’s current Prime Minister and top BNP leader Tarique Rahman claimed in a recent statement that no matter how much injustice has been done to his party and family in the past years, he is not in favor of seeking any kind of personal or political revenge.

However, Awami League leaders and activists also claim that the statement of the Chhatra Dal president is completely contrary to the statement of the party chief.