Bangladesh erupted in unrest after the International Crimes Tribunal-1 on Monday sentenced former prime minister Sheikh Hasina to death for crimes against humanity in the deadly crackdown on last year’s student uprising.
In Dhaka’s Dhanmondi 32 – the site of Hasina’s late father Sheikh Mujibur Rahman’s historic home – a violent standoff unfolded as protesters attempted a symbolic demolition.
Around midday, dozens of Dhaka College students arrived with two bulldozers, vowing over loudspeakers to tear down the remaining portions of Bangabandhu’s house once the verdict was delivered.
Security forces had sealed off the road, and as the crowd tried to push past barricades, police charged with batons and fired sound grenades to disperse them.
Army troops were also deployed at the scene amid the chaos.
“Students of Dhaka College have brought two bulldozers… announcing they will demolish the Dhanmondi 32 house after the verdict,” a local police officer said, noting the group was stopped before entering the restricted site.
The historic house, partially burned by mobs when Hasina was ousted last year, remains heavily guarded, and by evening, some 300 protesters regrouped nearby, burning tires in the street until security forces finally cleared the area.
Nationwide protests, arson and lockdowns
Outside the tribunal in the Supreme Court, crowds of victims’ families cheered and some kneeled in prayer upon hearing the death sentence for Hasina and her former home minister Asaduzzaman Khan.
Yet beyond the courthouse, Bangladesh saw a wave of both celebration and violence.
In parts of the capital and other cities, sporadic arson and bomb blasts rattled nerves.
Across the country, vehicles were torched in political violence: local media counted nearly 50 arson attacks, mostly on buses, and dozens of crude bombings in the days leading up to the verdict.
Security forces were on maximum alert.
In Gopalganj’s Kashiani upazila, activists of the banned Chhatra League blocked the Dhaka–Khulna highway at Tilchara Bazar around 7:45am, leaving vehicles stranded on both sides.
Witnesses said the group threw tree debris onto the road and obstructed traffic for nearly 20 minutes before fleeing as police arrived.
Meanwhile, in Moulvibazar, unidentified miscreants felled several trees to block the Rajnagar–Fenchuganj–Sylhet regional highway, stranding hundreds of vehicles.
The obstruction occurred about two kilometres north of Rajnagar Police Station in the early hours of Monday.
Fire Service personnel cleared the road by 7:30am.
In Gazipur’s Kaliakair upazila, suspected arsonists targeted Grameen Industrial Park, setting fire to its nameplate around 4:45am.
A crude bomb was reportedly hurled at the signage, causing a loud explosion. Security staff managed to extinguish the flames before further damage occurred.
In a separate incident in the Medi Ashulia area, miscreants also set fire to an excavator.
Polarized public reactions
Reactions to the tribunal’s decision split sharply along political lines.
Supporters of the verdict, including many ordinary citizens and opposition activists, hailed it as overdue justice.
Family members of slain protesters wept with relief and applauded inside the courtroom when the judgment was read.
At Dhaka University’s campus, students watching a live broadcast of the verdict on a big screen erupted in cheers, some celebrating by distributing sweets amid chants of victory.
Outside the court, demonstrators even broadcast a mock “missing person” announcement over loudspeakers for the fugitive Hasina and her family, a satirical stunt mimicking public missing-person alerts, urging anyone who finds “our Auntie Hasina, missing since last August,” to “deliver her to the gallows at the High Court.”
