The demand to ban the Awami League as a political party has resurfaced as leaders of the Jatiya Nagorik Committee and the Students Against Discrimination (SAD) renewed the call recently.
It has been a point of debate in the political spheres throughout the last six months, with some advocating for cancelling the party’s registration.
While addressing a discussion at the national press club on Friday, Nagorik Committee convener Nasiruddin Patwary warned of a grave crisis ahead had Awami League’s registration not been revoked before the next parliamentary polls.
“A grave crisis is waiting for the nation if the people do not focus on cancelling registration of Awami League before the elections. Failure to do so will push Bangladesh towards a civil war,” he noted.
Patwary urged the interim government to cancel the party’s registration through a democratic process, on charges of killings. “If the issue of Awami League banner is not resolved before the next election, there will be no way back to a democratic Bangladesh,”
He also urged all to boycott Awami League and its members in social and familial spheres.
Just two hours after Patwary’s speech, Abdul Hannan Masud, chief organiser of the Students Against Discrimination (SAD), reiterated the demand to ban the Awami League. Speaking to newspersons after the namaz-e-janaza of Mohammad Hasan, who was martyred in the July uprising, the SAD leader said they want to see Awami League banned.
Call for govt action
The demand for government action against the Awami League has intensified following a recent virtual speech of ousted prime minister Sheikh Hasina from India. On 5 February, she delivered the speech through the verified Facebook page of the now-banned Bangladesh Chhatra League.
In response, attacks were carried out on the homes of Awami League leaders in various districts, including the ousted prime minister’s family home at Dhanmondi-32 in the capital. Since then, the SAD leaders have been demanding that the Awami League be banned.
Meanwhile, some local student leaders came under attack in Gazipur on 7 February. The SAD leaders brought out demonstration rallies in different districts across the country, demanding a ban on Awami League and prosecution of mass killings in July and August last year.
Against the backdrop, Asif Mahmud, local government, rural development and cooperative adviser, said in an interview that the authorities will soon take steps to ban Awami League as a political party.
The demand intensified further after Abul Kashem, a young man injured in the Gazipur attack, succumbed to his injuries on 12 February. His namaz-e-janaza at the central Shaheed Minar in Dhaka turned into a rallying point.
Akther Hossain, member secretary of the Nagorik Committee; Hasnat Abdullah, convener of SAD; and Arif Sohel, its member secretary, reiterated the demand to ban Awami league, while different slogans, including the call to ban Awami League, were chanted in a coffin procession later.
Before the prayer, Hasnat Abdullah posted on his verified Facebook account, using the hashtag #BanAwamiLeague. In another post on the same day, he noted that the interim government must ban Awami League.
