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The number of political killings is increasing in Bangladesh, largely due to growing factional feuds among activists of the ruling Awami League and its affiliated bodies in recent months.

At least 41 people were killed and 3,736 people were injured in political violence between January and June this year, including eight deaths in June alone, according to rights group Ain O Salish Kendra.

According to ASK, 45 people were killed and 6,978 were injured in political violence in 2023. In the first six months of 2023, 14 people were killed and 2,422 were injured in 179 incidents of political violence.

Most of the political violence was reported as AL factional clashes over the 12th parliamentary elections   and the subsequent upazila elections. 

Only five people were killed while attending the blockade programmes of the main opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party, while none were killed in BNP  infighting in the first six months, ASK data showed.

The clashes and killings left AL high command in discomfort, prompting senior party leaders, including presidium members, joint secretaries, and organising secretaries, to consider making organisational visits in districts across the country.

‘We have plans to arrange organisational visits to convey our message to the grassroots levels that none would be spared and strong organisational actions would be taken against those involved in infighting,› AL presidium member Jahangir Kabir Nanak told ¶¶Òõ¾«Æ·. 

He said that the party’s divisional team would accompany the central team, comprising presidium members, joint secretaries, and organising secretaries.

AL Rajshahi Bagha upazila unit general secretary Ashraful Islam, Chapainawabganj district council member and AL Noyalabhanga union unit general secretary Abdus Salam, and AL Narayanganj district’s Kashipur union unit general secretary Suroj Mia were among those killed in the final week of June.

On June 22, two factions of AL leaders and activists clashed at Bagha over collecting additional money in the name of the Upazila Deed Writers’ Association, leaving at least 50 activists injured.

Of the injured, Bagha upazila AL general secretary Ashraful Islam Babul died at Rajshahi Medical College Hospital on June 26, which triggered protests in several places in Rajshahi.

On Monday, AL Rajshahi city unit leaders protested at Rajshahi-6 constituency lawmaker and former state minister for foreign affairs Shahriar Alam’s comment on AL presidium member and Rajshahi city mayor AHM Khairuzzaman Liton.

Branding Shahriar, also Bagha upazila AL president, as a ‘hybrid’ leader and a ‘conspirator’ against AL politics in the Rajshahi region, the protesters also urged party chief and prime minister Sheikh Hasina to take necessary action against him.

‘Some leaders and activists thought that they were ignored in politics by a lawmaker in Rajshahi. …The conflicts will not end without the intervention of the central Awami League,’ Khairuzzaman told ¶¶Òõ¾«Æ· on Tuesday.

Hinting at the AL lawmaker for Rajshahi-6 Shahriar Alam, he said that the MP had created a reign in the district’s AL politics, depriving dedicated leaders and activists. 

Denying the allegations, Shahriar said that he did not join the Awami League from other political parties, and so, there was no scope to call him a ‘hybrid’.

‘The party high command, including the general secretary Obaidul Quader and presidium member Abdur Rahman, also urged Khairuzzaman Liton, the party presidium to stop such activities. But he did not pay any heed to them,’ he said, adding that it was just a ‘propaganda’ against him.

The factional clash among AL leaders and activists intensified surrounding the January 7 general elections when the party allowed fielding party people as dummy candidates against nominated candidates amid the election boycott by major opposition political parties.

To avoid clashes, it took a different strategy ahead of the upazila elections, leaving it open to all without awarding anyone the party symbol.

The ASK data showed that at least 13 people were killed in AL factional clashes over upazila elections.  

Asked whether the AL measures failed to contain factional clashes, AL organising secretary BM Mozammel Haque said that if such measures were not taken, the situation would have been worse than this.

‘I think that such violence is normal in a big political party like the Awami League,’ Mozammel claimed. 

On Monday, at least 15 people, including a union parishad member were injured in a clash between the two groups of AL over establishing control at Bishnudia village of Abdullahpur union under Kusthia Sadar.

Police said that a conflict was going on between the groups of AL Abdullahpur union unit president Arab Ali and local UP member Nazmul Haque over previous animosity.

AL joint general secretary, AFM Bahauddin Nasim, termed the clashes personal enmity, not ones for political ideology.

‘We hope that the conflicts will come down in the coming days,’ Nasim added.

Civil rights advocacy group Shujan secretary Badiul Alam Majumdar said that infighting in the Awami League was increasing due to unlawful activities by political patrons.

‘Everyone in AL has become desperate for posts and positions,’ he said.

Referring to the AL’s failure to rein in MPs ahead of upazila polls, he feared that initiatives by the party to stop violence were unlikely to be successful.

‘The party’s internal conflicts will increase in the coming days,’ Badiul observed.

Dilara Choudhury, a retired government and politics professor at Jahangirnagar University, said that the AL internal infighting had increased due to the ill politics of the party and its indulgence in looting and money-making.

‘If anyone can become an upazila chairman, MP, or Awami League leader, he or she can make more money in illegal ways,’ she said.

The AL formed a government for the fourth consecutive term through the 12th parliamentary elections boycotted by major opposition parties, including the main opposition BNP, with a low turnout of voters and allegations of ballot stuffing.

The BNP also boycotted the upazila elections held within months of the parliamentary polls.