Awami League rejects its ban by Bangladesh interim govt, vows to continue operations
Bangladesh's deposed prime minister Sheikh Hasina-led Awami League on Sunday rejected 'with disgust' the interim government's decision to ban the party and vowed to continue its operations despite the restriction.
The Muhammad Yunus-led interim government's Council of Advisers or the Cabinet on Saturday night slapped a ban on 'all activities of Awami League', including in cyberspace, under an anti-terrorism law.
Reacting to the move, in a strongly worded statement posted on X, the Awami League said, 'We are rejecting and protesting the fascist autocrat Yunus government's decision with disgust…Awami League will carry on its activities in an appropriate course, defying the decision of the fascist Yunus government.' The party regretted that 'today's independent Bangladesh' had to witness the ban on Awami League activities by an 'undemocratic fascist' government that now runs the country 'without people's mandate', while the country 'earned independence and sovereignty under its (Awami League's) leadership'.
Formed in 1949, the Awami League led the movement for the autonomy of Bengalis in the then East Pakistan for decades and eventually led the Liberation War in 1971.
The statement said the ban is meant to 'exile the spirit, ideals, and core values of the Liberation War and to empower the vulgar resurgence of anti-independence elements' and 'only an anti-state and anti-independence evil force alone'.
'We strongly believe that the people of Bangladesh will deliver a resounding response to this reckless decision by the fascist Yunus regime. We call upon all leaders and activists of Awami League to stand shoulder to shoulder with the people and build a total resistance against this incoherent and anti-people decision,' it said.
Awami League also called upon all democratic states, institutions, and leaders around the world to denounce the decision taken by the Yunus government.
Earlier in the day, Yunus's press secretary Shafiqul Alam in a media briefing said the democratic world was unlikely to oppose the interim government's decision to ban 'this shameless, killer, anti-democracy, and corrupt party'.
He said there are instances of the Western world banning political parties for their activities against the national interest and for committing crimes against humanity, like the Nazi and Fascist parties of Germany and Italy.
'So we don't expect any negative international reaction over the ban on Awami League activities,' Alam said.
The Election Commission (EC) has said it is awaiting a formal government notification to decide on scrapping the registration of the Awami League.
According to Bangladesh law, if the Awami League's registration with the EC is cancelled, it will be disqualified from contesting the general election, which could be held between December 2025 and June 2026.
'We will have to decide going with the spirit of the present Bangladesh,' Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) AMM Nasir Uddin told reporters here.
Hasina's 16-year-long Awami League regime was toppled on August 5 last year in a student-led violent mass uprising, prompting the 77-year-old former prime minister to flee to India.
Three days after her ouster, Yunus took charge as the chief adviser of the interim government.
Hasina and many of her party leaders have been facing hundreds of cases, including those of mass murder and corruption, since then. Most of her party leaders and ministers in her government have either been arrested or fled abroad.
The announcement to ban Hasina's Awami League came after the student-led newly-floated National Citizen Party (NCP) activists rallied since Thursday and carried out blockades across Dhaka demanding the ban.
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As a consequence, he does not foresee another country taking India to the International Court of Justice. In theory, Bangladesh – the country most affected by this policy – could start proceedings against India in the International Criminal Court, said Nair. 'Even though India is not a party to the International Criminal Court, Bangladesh is,' he said. 'A state party can bring a complaint against a non-state party before the court.' However, he said, that possibility was remote because Bangladesh is unlikely to want to aggravate India at a time of fraught relations between the two. Manchanda said that India may face some heat at the United Nations Human Rights Council's upcoming session on June 16. 'I expect that there will be statements made by civil society groups expressing outrage at what India is doing,' she said. She pointed out that in June 2024, the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination had called for India to refrain from forcibly detaining and deporting Rohingya refugees to Myanmar. But Manchanda said she was 'unsure about how much traction this would get.' Kumar did not believe the policy would be halted. 'Legally there is essentially nothing stopping India from continuing to carry out such deportations,' he said.
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