Bangladesh's Awami League has alleged that law and order in the country has collapsed under the ruling Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) government, citing what it describes as a surge in murders, rapes, mob killings, and enforced disappearances since the party came to power. The allegations, made public on 30 September, paint a picture of systematic institutional failure — and, the party claims, deliberate political vendetta.

The Violence Numbers

According to the Awami League, 21,756 cases of violence were recorded across seven categories in just seven months, spanning February to September this year. Within that figure, the party cited 1,789 murders and 11,165 cases of violence against women and children, along with 317 attacks on police personnel.

Between January and August, the party said, 339 rapes were reported — including 114 gang rapes — with 41 cases in which victims were allegedly killed after the assault. Mob violence claimed 31 lives in June and another 28 lives in August, according to the party's statement.

Human Rights Society Findings Cited

The Awami League also referenced findings by the Dhaka-based Human Rights Support Society (HRSS), which reportedly documented 56 deaths and 5,246 injuries across 830 incidents of political violence between January and June this year. The same report, according to the party, recorded 44 members of minority communities killed, and 383 journalists subjected to harassment or physical attacks. In August alone, 87 unidentified bodies were reportedly recovered from rivers, canals, and wooded areas.

Accusations Against the Home Minister

The Awami League directed pointed criticism at Bangladesh Home Minister Salahuddin Ahmed, accusing him of prioritising political retaliation over public safety. The party alleged that despite the deteriorating security situation, the minister had appeared at a public event and boasted about eliminating the Awami League — and had announced rewards for doing so.

'Against this backdrop, the Home Minister's biggest concern appears to be offering rewards for catching so-called Awami League collaborators. It is as if roses are being handed out on a blood-soaked battlefield. The minister boasts about police intelligence, yet deaths in police custody, enforced disappearances and the deaths of 58 people in prisons do not appear to be part of the accounting on his desk,' the Awami League stated.

Historical Parallel Invoked

The party drew a direct parallel with the BNP-Jamaat government's tenure from 2001 to 2006, which it characterised as marked by political killings, enforced disappearances, persecution of minorities, and corruption. 'Now back in power, the BNP has demonstrated within just seven months that it has not returned to govern, but to seek revenge,' the Awami League added.

The party also questioned the political legitimacy of a government that, it alleged, openly announces the intention to eliminate the very party through whose leadership Bangladesh was founded. 'Maintaining law and order is the responsibility of the Home Ministry. When a minister, having failed to fulfil that responsibility, instead begins announcing rewards for political arrests, it becomes clear that, for this government, the safety and security of the people are not the priority. Political retaliation is,' it said.

What Comes Next

The BNP government has not publicly responded to these specific allegations as of the time of this report. Independent verification of the cited figures — including those from the HRSS — remains limited. With political tensions running high in Dhaka, the coming weeks will test whether any institutional mechanism exists to independently audit the violence data and hold the government accountable.