Sheikh Hasina, who fled Bangladesh to India after facing mass protests, could soon see her party, the Awami League – founded by her father Mujibur Rahman – banned in her home country. If this happens, then Bangladesh would lose the oldest existing political party in the country, a party that played an important role in achieving Bangladesh’s independence.

The move becomes even more likely after Bangladesh’s caretaker government, led by Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus, banned it
Chhatra League of Bangladesh (BCL), the student wing of the Awami League.

How did we get here? What does this mean for the party? We answer your questions.

Bangladesh Chhatra League ban

On Wednesday (October 23), Bangladesh’s caretaker government announced the ban on the Bangladesh Chhatra League (BCL), the student wing of the Awami League.

In a Home Ministry notification, the government said that during the last 15 years under the Awami League government, the Bangladesh Chhatra League was involved in various activities that disrupted public safety, including murder, rape, torture, harassment in student hostels and tender handling.

It said there was sufficient evidence to indicate that the group continued to engage in conspiratorial, destructive and provocative activities against the state. The regime has declared a ban on it under Section 18(1) of the Anti-Terrorism Act 2009 with immediate effect, the notification said.

Bangladesh Chhatra League president Saddam Hussain has refused the move, tellingly ThePrint“This is a mafia-like government. We see no legality behind the ban. This ban is similar to Yahya Khan’s ban on BCL during the Liberation War of 1971. We do not agree with that. BCL has always participated in democratic processes and will continue to do so.”

The Awami League also criticized the ban. In a post on X, the party led by Sheikh Hasina wrote: “Bangladesh Awami League believes that the banning of an organization which led the Bengali liberation struggle and independence war and whose name is intertwined with the very existence of the state of Bangladesh, by an unconstitutional and illegal caretaker government is a tragic and unfortunate event for the nation—a cruel irony. It is a brutal revenge of the defeated forces of 1971 against the liberation struggle and the war of independence.”

Bangladesh Awami League’s protest and strong condemnation against the vile and unjust ban on a historic organization related to the nation’s independence
—
Through a notification of the Ministry of Internal Affairs regarding the so-called unconstitutional and illegal interim government,… pic.twitter.com/ghwidSCsd6

— Awami League (@albd1971) October 24, 2024

A sign of things to come for the Awami League

Many believe that the BCL ban is an indication of what the future may hold
Awami League. On October 20, the Daily Star reported that the caretaker government would ban the Awami League and like-minded parties from participating in political activities.

Mahfuj Alam, Special Assistant to the Chief Adviser, said: “Those who participated in the last three elections and came to parliament illegally defrauded the people and the caretaker government will of course put obstacles in their way of political participation.

“You’ll see how these barriers come into effect. It has a legal aspect and it has an administrative aspect—you will see shortly. These things will become clearer when the electoral process begins.”

Earlier on September 1, the Bangladesh High Court dismissed a petition seeking a ban on the Awami League. The petition was filed by Arifur Rahman Murad Bhuiyan, executive director of Sarda Society, on August 19. The plea in court sought the disqualification of Hasina’s party for its alleged involvement in the killing of students and people in general during the student-led mass uprising.

Antidiscrimination Student Movement, the student union that was responsible for
the overthrow of the Sheikh Hasina governmentwas categorical in his demand to ban the Awami League. They hold Hasina and her party responsible for the deaths of more than 600 people, who died in incidents of violence in protest against the controversial government job quota system, which first began in mid-July.

End of the oldest party in Bangladesh

If the Muhammad Yunus-led government bans the Awami League from future political activities, it would signal the end of the country’s oldest political party in the country. Founded in 1949, it has been at the forefront of almost all democratic movements before and after the birth of Bangladesh. He also led the nation to independence.

The last time the Awami League faced such an existential crisis as it is now – Hasina is out of the country and its other leaders have also fled – was in August 1975 when
Mujibur Rahman and most of his family members were killed.

It was only in 1981 that Sheikh Hasina returned to Bangladesh and rebuilt the party. Since then, she heads the organization and under her leadership, the party has assumed power five times.

However, in recent times there have been allegations against the Awami League and its leader Sheikh Hasina that they are authoritarian and dictatorial in nature. According to many, Hasina dismantled the political infrastructure that enabled democratic governance and respect for human rights more broadly. Many of the Awami League leaders were also accused of corruption.
Sheikh Hasina he was also accused of using state machinery against the protesters.

It seems the new generation in Bangladesh is done with the old ways. They want new ideas and new people and they want to move away from the history that makes Bangladesh the country it is.

With contributions from agencies