Bangladesh’s interim authorities has banned the Awami League, the get together of deposed prime minister Sheikh Hasina, below the nation’s anti-terrorism legislation. The choice, formalised via a Council of Advisers assertion, follows days of protests by the student-led Nationwide Citizen Social gathering (NCP).
Bangladesh’s interim authorities, led by Muhammad Yunus, on Saturday night formally banned the Awami League, the get together of deposed prime minister Sheikh Hasina, below the nation’s anti-terrorism legislation. The announcement got here in a press release from the Council of Advisers, the advisory physique main the interim administration, which stated the ban can be formalized via an official gazette notification on the subsequent working day.
The transfer follows days of protests by the student-led Nationwide Citizen Social gathering (NCP), which emerged from the 2024 mass rebellion that ousted Hasina’s authorities final August. NCP activists have staged blockades throughout Dhaka since Thursday, calling for a ban on the Awami League, which they accuse of corruption and mass atrocities.
The Council of Advisers, chaired by Yunus, has additionally amended Bangladesh’s Worldwide Crimes Tribunal (ICT) legislation to permit the prosecution of political events and their affiliated our bodies. The Council’s assertion stated the choice to ban the Awami League was taken to “defend the nation’s safety and sovereignty” and to make sure the protection of witnesses and complainants concerned in ongoing trials towards the get together’s leaders.
What occurred earlier?
Sheikh Hasina, 77, fled to India following her ouster final yr. She and lots of of her senior get together leaders face a whole bunch of circumstances, together with prices of mass homicide and corruption, filed within the wake of the student-led rebellion. Many Awami League leaders have both been detained or have gone into hiding overseas.
The Awami League, shaped in 1949, performed a key position in Bangladesh’s independence from Pakistan in 1971, however its long-standing dominance in nationwide politics has been challenged by the rise of the NCP, which crystallised from the College students towards Discrimination (SAD) motion earlier this yr.
Nevertheless, the transfer to ban the Awami League has drawn combined reactions inside Bangladesh. The Bangladesh Nationalist Social gathering (BNP), the principle rival to the Awami League, has distanced itself from the ban, saying it opposes prohibiting any political get together.
(With PTI inputs)