Clear Lack of Coordination Between the Home Ministry and Police Headquarters
Sudden flash processions staged by the Awami League, Jubo League, and the banned Chhatra League have erupted across major Bangladeshi cities, including Dhaka, raising critical questions regarding national security and intelligence effectiveness. Despite the ouster of the party’s central leadership following August 5, 2024, fugitive activists have increasingly utilized rapid mobilization tactics. Most recently, a gathering of several hundred members in the high-security diplomatic enclave of Gulshan, housing key state figures and foreign missions, hurls cocktails at police and challenges the security apparatus, resulting in subsequent night-long raids and the arrest of 34 participants.
Crime and security experts point to severe shortcomings in coordination between the Ministry of Home Affairs, Police Headquarters, and various intelligence wings, alongside a distinct lack of proper oversight by senior officials over ground-level personnel. This breakdown allows groups to assemble quickly and vanish into safe shelters before law enforcement can effectively intercept them. A former intelligence official highlighted the profound sensitivity of areas like Gulshan, Baridhara, and Banani, where defense intelligence, National Security Intelligence (NSI), Special Branch (SB), and Detective Branch (DB) operate, questioning how such large assemblies could occur without prior detection.
Frontline police officers, speaking anonymously to Inqilab, expressed immense pressure and frustration over being held solely accountable for these sudden incidents while dealing with administrative delays in directives from senior management. Emphasizing their maximum alertness, they question the fairness of holding rank-and-file personnel responsible when intelligence failures stem from broader structural and coordination gaps. Meanwhile, political figures have openly criticized the administration; during a National Press Club discussion, BNP Acting Secretary General Mr. Ruhul Kabir Rizvi emphasized the urgent need to scrutinize both police administration and intelligence awareness regarding how these gatherings are successfully organized.
According to internal intelligence sources, the Awami League has shifted toward decentralized, highly coordinated flash rallies orchestrated by fugitive leaders currently residing abroad. Directives and funding are systematically funneled through encrypted applications like WhatsApp. To evade immediate identification by residents and ensure a swift, clean exit, the party primarily recruits participants from outside the capital rather than relying on local Dhaka activists. Arrested individuals have corroborated these operational methods during police interrogations, detailing how external coordination drives these strategic projections of political strength.
Law enforcement agencies have actively retaliated against these underground mobilization efforts through targeted crackdowns and ongoing operations both within and outside the capital. Dhaka Metropolitan Police Detective Branch (DB) Chief Md. Shafiqul Islam confirmed that while a few local figures occasionally lead, the vast majority of participants are brought in from outside Dhaka. He stressed that 34 individuals involved in the Gulshan procession have already been apprehended, warning that strict legal action will be continuously enforced against anyone violating the law through future flash rallies.
Recent police interventions underscore the geographical spread and frequency of these underground actions across various neighborhoods in the capital. On Thursday afternoon, authorities arrested four activists in Uttara near the Abdullahpur flyover, while an earlier incident on February 27 involved the arrest of seven Mohila Awami League female leaders and their driver during a morning march in Dhanmondi. Additionally, on August 11, local citizens intercepted a gathering near Mohakhali, detaining an individual before handing him over to police authorities, demonstrating active public resistance alongside official law enforcement responses.
