New Delhi: Bangladesh’s interim government, led by Chief Advisor Muhammad Yunus, announced on Saturday evening a ban on the Awami League, the party of deposed former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. The ban was enacted under an anti-terrorism law.
Yunus’s office stated that the official notification would be published in the gazette on the next working day.
The decision, described as a statement from the council of advisors or the cabinet, stipulates that the ban will remain in effect until the conclusion of the “trial of the Awami League and its leaders in Bangladesh’s International Crimes Tribunal in the interest of protecting the country’s security and sovereignty.”
The interim government of Bangladesh also cited the need for the security of leaders and activists involved in the July 2024 uprising as a reason for the ban.
These protests, initially sparked by a reservation system, escalated into an anti-Hasina movement following a severe government crackdown on demonstrating students. Sheikh Hasina, 77, has been living in India after fleeing Dhaka in the wake of the unrest.
In a related development, a meeting chaired by Yunus simultaneously amended the International Crimes Tribunal (ICT) law, now allowing the tribunal to prosecute any political party, its affiliated organizations, and front groups.
The Awami League, established in 1949, played a pivotal role in the movement for Bengali autonomy in what was then East Pakistan for several decades, ultimately leading the 1971 Liberation War.
