Bangladesh’s interim government has banned all political activities of the Awami League, the long-dominant party of deposed Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, invoking the country’s Anti-Terrorism Act.
Officials cited national security threats as justification for the sweeping move, which marks a new chapter in the country’s ongoing political upheaval.
The ban, announced late Saturday, follows days of mass demonstrations led by the student-led National Citizen Party (NCP), a movement that grew out of last year’s popular uprising which forced Hasina from office.
The protests were joined by several Islamist and right-wing parties, including Jamaat-e-Islami, who called for the Awami League to be formally labelled a terrorist organisation due to its alleged role in deadly crackdowns on dissent.
According to the interim government’s statement, the ban will remain in effect pending the conclusion of trials against the Awami League and its leadership for their involvement in the deaths of hundreds of protesters. The cases are to be handled by the International Crimes Tribunal (ICT).
In a significant legal development, the government also announced an amendment to the ICT Act. The change will allow the tribunal not only to prosecute individuals but also political parties and organisations collectively—a shift that paves the way for the Awami League to stand trial as a corporate entity.
Founded in 1949, the Awami League was at the forefront of Bangladesh’s independence movement and has been the dominant political force for much of the country’s post-1971 history. It dismissed the move as unlawful, declaring in a Facebook post: “All decisions of the illegal government are illegal.”
The country has remained on edge since Prime Minister Hasina fled to India in August following a wave of protests, many of them deadly, linked initially to opposition to public sector job quotas. The unrest ballooned into a broader revolt against Hasina’s leadership, culminating in the formation of a transitional government headed by Nobel Peace Prize winner Muhammad Yunus.
Yunus has promised political and electoral reforms and indicated that national elections may be postponed until 2026 to allow for constitutional overhauls and judicial inquiries.
In October, the government banned the Awami League’s student wing, the Bangladesh Chhatra League, calling it a “terrorist organisation” due to its alleged orchestration of violent assaults on anti-government protesters.
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