Ban on Awami League draws mixed reactions

Several political parties have made statements a day after the interim government decided to ban the Awami League under the Anti-Terrorism Act before being tried as a party.

The Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), Jatiya Party, Bangladesher Samajtantrik Dal (BaSaD) and Gono Odhikar Parishad have expressed mixed reactions.

At an emergency meeting of the Advisory Council on Saturday night, the interim government decided to ban the Awami League under the anti-terrorism law in the face of demands from several parties such as the National Citizen Party (NCP) and the Jamaat-e-Islami.

Following the meeting, Law Advisor Asif Nazrul said at a briefing that a circular on this would be issued on the next working day.

At the same time, the council also decided to amend the International Crimes (Tribunals) Act to bring the Awami League to justice on charges of "crimes against humanity" in suppressing the July Uprising.

A gazette of the amendment to the ICT Act has also been issued.

The leaders and activists of the NCP, several Islamist parties and Islami Chhatra Shibir, who were on a sit-in demonstration at the Shahbagh and InterContinental Dhaka hotel intersections, cheered after watching the news of the Awami League's ban live. The Jamaat-e-Islami also held an acknowledgement meeting in the evening.

The day after the decision, the BNP issued a statement calling the interim government's move "fair” on Sunday afternoon.

Revealing the party’s stance in a statement, BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir said: “We are pleased that the interim government last night decided to stop the activities of the fascist Awami League and its affiliates despite the delay in expediting the trial of those associated with the fascist regime for crimes against humanity and its efforts to make the trial efficient.

“We believe it is right to amend the relevant laws and ensure a judicial process to try the fascist party, which has been carrying out disappearances, murders, oppression and misrule for a long time.”

The BNP said these demands were made a long time ago. They also raised the issues in several meetings with the interim government.

The party believes if these “decisions were taken earlier” in accordance with their demands, the interim administration would not have been in such an “embarrassing and unexpected” situation and taken action under pressure.

Jatiya Party Chairman Ghulam Muhammed Quader’s Press Secretary Khandaker Delwar Jalali said their party was "not in favour" of the decision.

Quader made the statement earlier on Saturday afternoon at a meeting of the party's student wing at its Banani office, he said.

The Jatiya Party chairman said there, "We believe in multi-party democracy. We are not in favour of banning any party that is doing or wants to do systematic politics. When the Awami League government banned Jamaat, we protested against it. But if the Awami League is banned for the massacre, then the question arises as to what will be the decision on the organisations directly or indirectly responsible for the mass killings in the 1971 Liberation War? Because the highest number of genocides in the history of Bangladesh occurred during the war."

Meanwhile, the Gono Odhikar Parishad demanded a ban on the Jatiya Party at a press conference on Sunday afternoon in response to its reaction to the ban on Awami League activities.

The party’s General Secretary Rashed Khan, in a written statement, said: "If the Awami League’s final registration is not revoked, the mass uprising will remain incomplete. The Gono Odhikar Parishad expects the Election Commission will play an effective role in implementing the organisational ban on the Awami League as well as the cancellation of its registration and ultimately banning the party."

BaSaD General Secretary Bazlur Rashid Firoz in a statement demanded the prosecution of both the Jamaat-e-Islami and the Awami League for massacres.

He said, "The Awami League has lost the moral right to do politics in Bangladesh over the July massacre. Under the leadership of Sheikh Hasina, the Awami League has destroyed all the democratic systems in Bangladesh over the last fifteen years and is responsible for the enforced disappearance and extrajudicial killings of countless people. Even now, there is not the least remorse from the Awami League for their past actions, including the July massacre.

"However, any decision to ban a political party or prohibit its activities by an executive order through undemocratic laws such as the Anti-Terrorism Act and the Special Powers Act is an obstacle to the country's transition to a democratic system."

In the statement, he demanded the current interim government prosecute Awami League for the massacre as well as Jamaat-e-Islami for war crimes and the genocide during the Liberation War.

Lawyer Shahdeen Malik spoke about the process of banning the Awami League activities.

On Sunday, he told bdnews24.com: “The government has amended the anti-terrorism law by empowering the tribunal. As such, the tribunal holds the power to ban the Awami League activities.

"The government or those demanding a ban on the party should have approached the tribunal. Then it will be more legal if the tribunal bans the party."

Another lawyer, Jyotirmoy Barua, said: “The anti-terrorism law lacks the mandate to prohibit the activities of any political party. It is applicable to ban only a political party."