New Delhi: The interim government of Bangladesh under Muhammad Yunus on Monday issued a gazette notification banning all activities of former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s party, Awami League and its affiliate organisations. The ban is imposed under the Anti-Terrorism Act until the trial of the party and its leaders in the Bangladesh’s International Crimes Tribunal (ICT) is completed.
The ban included all activities, including any kind of publication, campaign in media, online and social media, procession, meeting, gathering, conference, etc.
Sources say that Yunus is targetting the Awami League (AL) to be in the good books of Pakistan and use India’s ‘Operation Sindoor’ to fan anti-India sentiments domestically. In other words, Yunus continues to distance Bangladesh away from India.
In the sit-in demonstrations organised by Hasnat Abdullah of National Citizen Party (NCP) to put pressure on the interim government to ban the Awami League (AL) two radical Islamic leaders marked their presence — Mufti Jashimuddin Rahmani of Ansarullah Bangla Team, also known as Ansar-al Islam Bangladesh or Ansar Bangla (ABT) and Mufti Harun Izhar, LeT’s Bangladesh module chief.
Jasim Uddin Rahmani, chief of the globally banned ABT and longtime Al-Qaeda ally, was seen publicly leading an anti-Awami League rally in Dhaka’s Shahbagh on May 11. His reappearance, after spending years in prison for inciting murder, has sparked national outrage and international concern. Alongside him, other radical outfits like Hizb ut-Tahrir (HuT) are openly calling for the creation of a caliphate and urging action against India. Yet, not a single word of condemnation has come from the Yunus regime.
Instead, the regime has turned its fire on the country’s largest secular force. Using the Anti-Terrorism Act, it has banned the Awami League, while globally designated terrorists now occupy centre stage.
Since the Awami League’s activities have been banned, there are no more legal complications in arresting the party’s leaders and activists. As the ban was not announced for so long, officials often struggled with arrests at the field level. Now that obstacle is no longer there. Since the government order came into effect, the police can immediately arrest Awami League leaders and activists who participate in rallies, processions or secret meetings.
After the Anti-Terrorism Act banned all activities of the Awami League, various questions have arisen. Can the law ban activities without banning the party? What will happen to the registration of the Awami League as a political party if activities are banned? If the law is amended to open the way for the Awami League to be tried as a party for crimes against humanity, what will be the interim government’s position on JeI’s alleged crimes against humanity in 1971?
Now that they are done with banning and de-registering the Awami League by the Bangladesh Election Commission, suspension of the party, which has ruled in Dhaka for over two decades, is now officially disqualified and ineligible to contest any future elections in the country, until the ban is revoked and the party registration is restored by the Election Commission.
The next target of Yunus will be to remove President Shahabuddin and possibly either elevate himself or appoint someone from the hard-line Islamist camp. This would then ensure that even if Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) comes to power they will have a President who can do the bidding for Yunus and his coterie. The Army Chief General Waker-uz-Zaman is opposing it, whether he would succeed time will only tell. Bangladesh is at crossroads trying to take a democratic turnaround.
Meanwhile, it has been confirmed that the Yunus-led interim administration is planning to declare the ‘July Declaration’ by June 10 which would see the closure/demise/end of the Constitution of Bangladesh. After this, the country’s President has to resign. The inauguration of a new President as per the ‘July Declaration’ is likely to see the dismissal of the Chief of Army Staff and he could also be put on trial. Sources confirmed that General Waker-uz-Zaman and his coterie met in Bangabhavan secretly on Monday, to brief the President to make an announcement on the interim administration.
There is a strong rumour that the Army Chief wants to remove Yunus. This act of Zaman could bring him severe punishment and he may even be declared as a traitor. Also, in a sudden development, General Zaman was told by Yunus not to proceed on a five-day visit to the United States that was scheduled to begin on May 11 for participation in the Land Forces Pacific (LANPAC) Symposium and Exposition-25 in Honolulu.
Surprisingly, Bangladesh’s interim government’s Legal Advisor, Asif Nazrul had also held a meeting with Harun Izhar. The meeting allegedly took place on April 23 within the Ministry of Law office in Dhaka.
Sources within Bangladesh’s military intelligence confirm that Nazrul met with Izhar, a high-profile jihadist with a long track record of plotting terror attacks from Bangladeshi soil.
Alarmingly, this rendezvous occurred less than 24 hours after the massacre of 26 Indian tourists in Pahalgam by Pakistan-based terrorist outfits backed by the Pakistani army.
Adding fuel to the fire, Nazrul published a verified Facebook post shortly before the meeting, making baseless claims which were devoid of any proof and widely condemned as provocative and deeply insensitive to the victims’ families.
His statements, riddled with speculation and politically charged assertions, drew strong criticism for being not only baseless but also insensitive to the victims and their grieving families.
A senior officer from Bangladesh’s Army intelligence confirmed the meeting was recorded, though the content remains classified. “The presence of a wanted terrorist inside a government ministry is a grave concern,” the officer stated. “It reveals a potentially dangerous alignment between radicals and figures within the interim administration.”
Izhar, accompanied by several known LeT operatives, has been a recurring figure in regional jihadist activity. His involvement in an aborted 2009 plot to bomb the Indian High Commission in Dhaka remains a dark blot in Bangladesh’s counter-terror records.
Izhar is no stranger to law enforcement. With ties to Hefazat-e-Islam (HeI), a hardline Islamist organization, he’s been central to the radicalisation of many under the guise of groups like Manhaz. On March 30, 2024, a video surfaced online depicting him leading students in a pledge of allegiance to Hefazat’s cause, calling for jihad against India and Myanmar.
He also spearheaded operations under various banners—Towhidi Janata, Anti-Satime Rasul Andolon, and Kara Mukti Andolon — allegedly aimed at orchestrating jailbreaks for convicted extremists after former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s ouster. Izhar’s role escalated during Prime Minister Modi’s 2021 visit to Bangladesh on the occasion of the nation’s 50th independence year, where he orchestrated mass protests and demonstrations against PM Modi’s presence.
Meanwhile the Indian security forces and agencies have been told to be extra-vigilant along the India-Bangladesh border in view of the increasing presence of Pakistan’s ISI and Pakistani military officials in Bangladesh. Yunus-led interim government is directly patronizing the jihadi/extremist/terrorist outfits. The Islamic radical elements have infiltrated in key sectors of governance, judiciary, and law enforcement posing a serious security threat to the region and the world.
(The writer is an expert on South Asia and Eurasia. He was formerly with Manohar Parrikar Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses. Views expressed are personal)
–IANS
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