Bangladesh's former ruling party, the Awami League, today accused the interim government led by Nobel Peace Prize winner Muhammad Yunus of "fomenting division and trampling on democratic norms" by banning all party activities.
The government, formed last August after Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina was ousted following mass protests, announced late Saturday that the Awami League party could no longer be active online and elsewhere in the country under the Anti-Terrorism Act. The ban is expected to officially take effect on Monday.
Legal Affairs Advisor Asif Nazrul said the ban would remain in place until a special tribunal completes the trial of the party and its leaders, over the deaths of hundreds of students and other protesters during the protests.
The Bangladesh Nationalist Party, the country's second-largest political party, led by former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia, had previously opposed the proposal to ban the Awami League.
The Awami League's official statement on Twitter (X) condemned the ban, saying it "fosters division in society, stifle democratic norms, incites pogroms against dissent and stifles inclusiveness, all of which are undemocratic steps."
The party also condemned the rallies of thousands of people who took to the streets in recent days calling for a ban on the Awami League, which they say were organized under state patronage.
Hasina is in exile in India, and many of her party colleagues have been accused of killing protesters.
The United Nations Human Rights Office said in a February report that up to 1.400 people may have been killed during the three weeks of protests against Hasina.
A report by the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights recommends that the new government "refrain from banning political parties that would undermine the return to genuine multi-party democracy and effectively disenfranchise a large segment of Bangladesh's electorate."
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