Dhaka, Oct 30 (Representative) Since the ouster of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina from Bangladesh, there has been a massive crackdown on her Awami League (AL) party by the Muhammed Younus-led interim government. Even though the Awami League can continue its political activities for now, the party faces the prospect of being outlawed, after the interim government banned its student wing– the Chhatra League (BCL). This also seems more likely as the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) of former PM Khaleda Zia is seeking the support of the Jamaat-e-Islami in stopping a possible comeback of the AL. BNP leaders have called for a united attack against the Awami League to prevent its entry into the electoral ballot. The BNP says that in the alliance with the Jamaat, the two are trying to “rebuild the nation”. It claims that though Sheikh Hasina has taken residence in India, her associates remain in Bangladesh and a united front against them could halt the AL’s comeback. While Sheikh Hasina is now living in New Delhi, under strict protection, the AL is working to re-establish its footing, despite obstacles being set up in its path by the current army-backed interim government. This was confirmed after Mahfuj Alam, the special assistant to the Chief Advisor, who was quoted by the Daily Star as saying: “Those who had taken part in the last three elections and come to parliament illegally deceived the people, and the interim government will of course put obstacles in their political participation.
“You will see how these barriers will come into effect. It has a legal aspect and it has an administrative aspect — you will see it soon. These things will become clearer when the election process starts.” Meanwhile, a petition filed on Monday seeking a ban on the political activities of 11 parties including the AL was scrapped by the nation’s High Court. The intensifying persecution of the AL party workers has made it difficult for them to operate, as the party has been accused of being involved in acts of corruption, tyranny, excessive brutality, and of undermining the nation’s various socio-political institutions. The AL is the country’s oldest political party which was founded by its leader Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, and was directly involved in the fight for Bangladesh’s independence in 1971. The party on its part has refused to recognise the interim government’s legitimacy and the decision to ban the Chhatra League, calling it a “cruel irony” and a “brutal revenge by the defeated forces of 1971 against the liberation struggle and the war of independence.”