A year after Awami League government was toppled, the once-bustling parliamentary apartment complex known as the NAM Building is showing new signs of life.
For months after the government’s ouster on August 5, 2024, an upheaval sparked by a massive student-led uprising, the six-building compound on Dhaka’s Manik Mia Avenue sat in darkness.
Now, however, lights have reappeared in several flats, prompting curiosity and speculation.
Who exactly is residing in these residences that were originally reserved for members of parliament?
New occupants
Following the Awami League government’s fall, responsibility for the NAM Building complex was transferred from the Parliament Secretariat to the Ministry of Housing and Public Works.
In the absence of the elected lawmakers, various groups have moved in under temporary arrangements:
Building 1: Currently houses police personnel as a makeshift camp, with officers seen guarding the premises.
Building 2: Occupied by Ansar and Village Defence Party (VDP) members, providing auxiliary security presence.
Building 3: Accommodates Bangladesh Army personnel, who have taken up residence for security duties.
Buildings 4 and 5: Vacant and damaged. These two blocks remain uninhabitable and locked after being vandalized by protesters on August 5, 2024, when doors, windows, and furniture were smashed during the unrest.
Repair work has yet to begin, pending official instructions.
Building 6: Now home to several prosecutors from the International Crimes Tribunal (ICT). With approval from the Housing Ministry, prosecutors including Gazi MH Tamim and Barrister Moinul Karim have been allocated flats here.
They began residing in Building 6 in January 2025, paying monthly rent deducted from their salaries as per government housing regulations.
Five prosecutor families are staying in this block – three living full-time and two using the flats part-time.
How prosecutors got the flats
The decision to house ICT prosecutors in the NAM flats came about when they requested government quarters closer to their workplaces (near the Supreme Court, such as in Azimpur or Bailey Road).
With suitable accommodations unavailable in those areas and hundreds of NAM apartments sitting idle, the Ministry of Housing and Public Works stepped in to allocate some of these vacant flats to the prosecutors.
“Considering all factors, the ministry granted us permission to stay there on a rental basis. The rent is deducted from our salaries,” confirmed one ICT prosecutor, Gazi MH Tamim.
Housing ministry officials coordinated with the Parliament Secretariat to facilitate this arrangement, given that the NAM Buildings technically fall under the Secretariat’s jurisdiction.
Joint Secretary of the Housing Ministry, Md Asaduzzaman, told that the prosecutors moved into Building 6 “with the permission of the adviser to the concerned ministry.”
The understanding is that this is strictly a temporary measure: the prosecutors must vacate their flats within one month of the election schedule being announced, allowing elected MPs to return to their official residences.
Asaduzzaman emphasized that the lawyers are abiding by standard government housing rules and paying rent accordingly.
Not all eligible ICT prosecutors chose to move into the NAM complex.
Some, like prosecutor BM Sultan Mahmud, declined their allocated flats due to the inconvenience of commuting from the Manik Mia Avenue location to Dhaka courts.
Those who did move in have found a quiet enclave to call home for now, albeit one farther from their daily workplaces than they had hoped.
Silence from authorities
While the presence of police, Ansar, and army personnel in Buildings 1, 2, and 3 is evident, armed guards are posted at the gate (No 123) and around the compound, the official status of these security-force occupants remains somewhat murky.
When asked who authorized police and military members to use the NAM flats, on-site security officials declined to comment.
A security officer, speaking on condition of anonymity, disclosed that police are using Building 1, Ansar-VDP members are in Building 2, and army units in Building 3, but he was unsure whether they pay rent or under what terms they occupy the premises.
The Parliament Secretariat’s Senior Assistant Secretary, Md Kafil Uddin, currently in charge of the NAM Building oversight, refused to clarify whether these security personnel are officially allocated the flats or to provide a timeline for repairing the damaged Buildings 4 and 5.
Repeated attempts to get further details from him were unsuccessful.
The lack of transparency has left questions about how long the security forces will stay and under what arrangements, although their occupation is presumably linked to maintaining order after the tumultuous events of last year.
Housing Ministry officials have indicated that any renovation of the vandalized blocks (4 and 5), or management of the units occupied by law enforcement and military, is the responsibility of the Parliament Secretariat, since those buildings were originally designated for MPs.
As of now, there is no clear public timeline for when these flats will be restored or handed back to civilian use.
However, the general expectation is that once a new election is on the horizon and parliamentarians prepare to return, the security camps and temporary occupants will relocate elsewhere to make way for the MPs’ return.
What is the NAM building?
The NAM Building complex holds a unique place in Dhaka’s political history.
Constructed in the late 1990s for a Non-Aligned Movement summit, the complex was initially meant to host foreign delegates.
When the summit ended, the facility found new purpose as residential quarters for Bangladeshi lawmakers.
During the eighth national parliament, all flats in the NAM buildings were officially allocated to Members of Parliament, and it became a coveted address for MPs and their families, who resided there at a nominal rent.
The Manik Mia Avenue site alone consists of six multi-story buildings comprising a total of 240 flats.
Until last year, the NAM apartments bustled with the routines of political life, families of ministers and MPs, visitors coming for meetings or favors, and children playing in the courtyards.
That changed overnight on August 5, 2024, when the Awami League government was ousted amid nationwide turmoil.
In the immediate aftermath, angry crowds vandalized parts of the parliament area, the Prime Minister’s residence, and the NAM complex itself.
MPs and their families hastily left the area, many relocating to safer places or their hometowns.
The NAM flats fell into an eerie quiet, a stark contrast to their former vibrancy.