Violence erupted near Takwa Mosque in Dhaka’s Dhanmondi district on Sunday afternoon as members of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) targeted Bangladesh Awami League activists who had gathered to attend the funeral prayers (janazah) of former Central Bangladesh Chhatra League (BCL) general secretary Mahfuzul Haider Chowdhury Roton.
The clashes broke out shortly after 4:00 pm, ahead of the scheduled post-Asr prayer service for Roton. Witnesses reported that as Awami League affiliates arrived in the vicinity to pay their respects, they encountered aggressive mobs linked to the BNP. The ensuing violence left several Awami League members visibly injured, with blood spilt during the commotion. Law enforcement personnel deployed at the scene subsequently detained a number of individuals, transporting them away in police vans to restore order.
At present, official statements regarding the precise motives behind the flare-up, the identities of the injured, and the status of those detained remain unreleased by law enforcement authorities and party representatives.
The incident underscores the lingering political tensions following recent developments in Bangladesh, where confrontations between rival political factions remain frequent across major urban hubs. Takwa Mosque, situated in a prominent neighborhood of the capital, witnessed immediate chaos as bystanders and mourners sought refuge during the altercation.
Mahfuzul Haider Chowdhury Roton passed away on Saturday, 10 October, while undergoing treatment for lung cancer at a hospital in Kolkata, India. Following his death, his family and political colleagues arranged for his final rites in Dhaka on Sunday.
Roton served as the general secretary of the central committee of Chhatra League, the student wing of the Awami League, from 2006 to 2011, alongside committee president Mahmud Hasan Ripon. Following his tenure in student politics, Roton remained actively involved in the mainstream governance and organizational activities of the Awami League. He sought nomination for the Chittagong-6 (Raozan) constituency during the 2018 general election and was later appointed to the Awami League’s sub-committee on labour and manpower in 2021.
