The interim government of Bangladesh announced on Saturday that it would prohibit all the activities of the Awami League, the political party of the overturned leader of the Sheikh Hasina country, under the country’s anti -terrorism law until several legal affairs against the party and its leaders have concluded.
The government, led by the Nobel Prize winner Muhammad Yunus, has also changed a law to ensure that a whole party can be judged for certain crimes, not just individual members.
Last summer, Ms. Hasina’s authoritarian government was overthrown by a student protest movement. She fled to India, but the Awami League maintained a presence in Bangladesh.
When Hasnat Abdullah, one of the leaders of last year’s uprising, was attacked last week, supporters of Ms. Hasina’s party were accused. This caused greater indignation for students and more difficult action requests against the Awami League.
“Our ultimate goal is to see that the Awami League is prohibited,” said Hasnat during a demonstration on Saturday. “Even if I don’t make any other ad, do not leave the streets until the Awami League is prohibited.”
Hundreds of people, including wheelchair students or on crutches who had been injured during demonstrations last year, joined the rally and demanded that the Awami League be prohibited. Other political parties, including the Jamaat-E-Islami student wing, Islami Andolan, and members of Hefazat-E-Islam, a non-political Islamic pressure group, also joined the demonstration.
On Saturday evening, the Minister of Law, Asif Nazrul, said that the government would prohibit “all the activities” of the Awami League under the Bangladesh anti -terrorism law “until the party’s trials and its leaders at the International Crimes Tribunal are completed”.
The court, despite its name, is a national court and will eventually rule on the accusations that the members of the Awami League committed atrocities during the 2024 demonstrations. The interim government affirms that the legal amendment was to ensure that a political party is unable to deny an individual member as a bad actor while continuing to support poor behavior.
A commission of inquiry formed by the interim government said in December that Mrs. Hasina orchestrated mass disappearances during her 15 years in power.
In addition, a committee for the teaching of the United Nations declared in February that at least 1,400 people, including the children, had been killed by the police and the members of the party of Ms. Hasina during the demonstrations of last year.
In an article on Facebook, the Awami League has alluded to the underestimated nature of the interim government in a comment on the amendment: “The decisions of an illegitimate government are also illegitimate themselves.”
In 2024, students’ protests against a job reservation system became a huge uprising fueled by frustration and anger against the reign of Mrs. Hasina. The tensions degenerated after the death of a demonstrator in mid-July, which led his administration to block the internet, to impose fire covers and the Order Army, Paramilitary and police forces to repress the demonstrators.
Ms. Hasina fled the Bangladesh on August 5, just escaping the thousands of demonstrators walking towards her residence. Three days later, Mr. Yunus sworn as a new head of government.