Bangladesh interim government bans Awami League

Dhaka [Bangladesh], May 11 (ANI): Bangladesh interim government on Saturday has taken a decision to ban Awami League, the oldest political party in the country.

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Bangladesh interim government bans Awami League

The press release further clarified that the decision was made to safeguard national security and sovereignty.

"The Advisory Council meeting discussed the need to protect the country's security and sovereignty, the security of the leaders and activists of the July Movement, and the protection of the plaintiffs and witnesses of the International Crimes Tribunal until the trial of the Bangladesh Awami League and its leaders is completed A decision has been taken to ban all activities of the Awami League, including in cyberspace, under the Anti-Terrorism Act," the statement said.

Several political parties and groups in Bangladesh, including the National Citizens Party (NCP), Jamaat-e-Islami and others, are protesting by surrounding the residence of Muhammad Yunus, the Chief Adviser to the interim government, demanding a ban on the Awami League.

Awami League President and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina was ousted from power in a mass uprising on August 5 last year. She is currently in exile. After Sheikh Hasina's fall, an interim government was formed under the leadership of Nobel Laureate Muhammad Yunus.

Almost all Awami League leaders and workers are currently in hiding. Although the party's veteran leader, former President of Bangladesh, Abdul Hamid, is under the radar, he flew to Bangkok with his wife and brother-in-law early Thursday morning.

The protest, which began at 10 pm on Thursday in front of the Jamuna, the residence of the interim government's Chief Adviser, demanding a ban on the Awami League, is still ongoing.

NCP's convener, Nahid Islam, said, "The first responsibility of the interim government was to ban the Awami League. We have made that demand both inside and outside the government. But today, nine months later, we have had to take to the streets again to ban the Awami League." (ANI)

(The story has come from a syndicated feed and has not been edited by the Tribune Staff.)