Protesters in Bangladesh, including the capital city of Dhaka, staged large-scale demonstrations to condemn Israel's military incursion in Gaza and call for a boycott of anything associated with the region. International firms that the demonstrators believed had connections to Israel, including Bata, KFC, Pizza Hut, and Puma, had their stores vandalised and looted. In Sylhet, Chattogram, Khulna, Barishal, Cumilla, and Dhaka, hundreds of people demonstrated in support of Palestinians as Israel intensified its assault on Gaza, as a second ceasefire agreement remained in shambles. Donald Trump's backing for Israel also prompted anti-Presidential slogans.
With signs in hand and slogans denouncing the "genocide in Gaza," hundreds of residents and students in Bogra city marched to the busy Satmatha intersection.
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Police conducted raids and arrested more than 70 individuals amid the tumult, which was reminiscent of the student protests that rocked Bangladesh last year. The prompt police action was taken in an effort to draw in investors during a recession, as Bangladesh prepares to hold its first international investment summit under the leadership of Chief Adviser Muhammad Yunus.
Social media users have shared videos of vandalism in which mobs smash glass doors of a Bata showroom with bricks before stealing hundreds of shoes. According to a report by TBS News, some of the shoes even later surfaced on the Facebook marketplace. According to an article in The Dhaka Tribune, international businesses that were thought to be associated with Israel, including KFC, Puma, Bata, Domino's, and Pizza Hut, were attacked. In fact, they are not associated with the Jewish nation.
Not only has the current uptick in pro-Gaza protests shaken Bangladesh's streets, but it has also rekindled intense political tensions at the highest levels.
Sheikh Hasina's Awami League blasted the turmoil, claiming it was a hazardous warning sign of growing extremism in the nation, while the interim government, headed by Nobel Laureate and Chief Advisor Dr. Muhammad Yunus, fiercely denounced the disturbances.