Tuesday, 07 October, 2025
Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs Adviser Dr Asif Nazrul on Wednesday bluntly dismissed speculation that the Awami League (AL) might be brought back into the electoral fold.
“I don’t see any possibility that the ban on Awami League activities will be lifted soon,” he told reporters in Barishal, after visiting a Puja Mandap. His words have hardened the political fault lines as Bangladesh heads towards the February 2026 national polls.
The question gripping the country today is not about the timing of the election, but about its very character: will Bangladesh’s oldest and once-dominant party be allowed to return to the ballot, or will its exclusion reshape the nation’s political future?
The interim government has fixed February for the vote, promising a fair, festive and inclusive election. Yet the Awami League, outlawed under the Anti-Terrorism Act in May after the bloody July Uprising of 2024, remains barred from politics.
The uprising, led by Gen-Z students and workers, toppled Sheikh Hasina’s authoritarian regime after security forces massacred protesters in Dhaka and across the country. The bloodshed forced Hasina to flee to India, where she continues to insist she remains “legally elected Prime Minister until 2029” and urges her followers to “fight for her rights.”
But rivals dismiss such claims. BNP Standing Committee member Dr AZM Zahid Hossain this week reiterated that the AL leadership must face justice for enforced disappearances, vote rigging and killings carried out during Hasina’s rule.
“The Awami League cannot be absolved of crimes against the people,” he declared Wednesday, even while noting BNP’s principled opposition to bans imposed by decree.
On the ground, anger has not subsided. Demonstrations at Shahbagh and other flashpoints show persistent demands to permanently dissolve the AL.
Some analysts, however, frame the issue in harsher terms. “After World War II, Adolf Hitler’s party was banned in the interest of global peace and security. The same logic applies here—if the Awami League is allowed back into elections, it will plunge politics into chaos and poison the social fabric” .
Student groups, Islamist organisations and civil society actors have rallied around that demand, though Jamaat-e-Islami has shifted its focus to the Jatiya Party and the 14-party alliance, accusing them of collusion with Hasina.
In the meantime, fresh unrest has raised alarm. In recent weeks, incidents of sabotage have erupted from the Secretariat to the streets under the cover of diverse demands—protests over wages, local grievances and student issues have suddenly spiralled into violence, which the government and opposition alike describe as deliberate attempts to destabilise the country.
The most shocking came last week in Khagrachhari, where three people were killed in clashes over a rape allegation that doctors later confirmed to be false. Officials and analysts now point to the AL’s loyalist networks—both at home and abroad—as trying to manufacture flashpoints to derail the upcoming election.
“Banned or exiled parties often resort to disruption to discredit elections,” observed Dr Rezaul Karim, professor of political science at Dhaka University. “If the Awami League cannot contest, its best option is to delegitimise the process. The government must secure both the streets and the ballot boxes.”
Some analysts, however, frame the issue in harsher terms. “After World War II, Adolf Hitler’s party was banned in the interest of global peace and security. The same logic applies here—if the Awami League is allowed back into elections, it will plunge politics into chaos and poison the social fabric,” argued Prof Amzad Hossain of Rajshahi University.
The interim government itself has echoed this view. Dr Nazrul has warned of intelligence reports suggesting that AL operatives in exile are mobilising to spread fear and confusion. Opposition figures go further, warning that the same tactics of intimidation and sabotage that once kept Hasina in power may now be used to undermine the election itself.
The dilemma is stark. Lifting the ban risks reopening old wounds for a nation still traumatised by the July massacres. Keeping it risks staging an election that, while peaceful, may lack the full inclusivity needed for global legitimacy.
Four months from the vote, Bangladesh stands at a crossroads: the exclusion of the Awami League—the very party that once led the independence struggle but now faces charges of tyranny, bloodshed and conspiracy—could either clear the path to a new democratic beginning or plunge the nation into deeper turbulence.
Whether stability or chaos will define the February election is the defining question hanging over Bangladesh’s future.
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Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs Adviser Dr Asif Nazrul on Wednesday bluntly dismissed speculation that the Awami League (AL) might be brought back into the electoral fold.
“I don’t see any possibility that the ban on Awami League activities will be lifted soon,” he told reporters in Barishal, after visiting a Puja Mandap. His words have hardened the political fault lines as Bangladesh heads towards the February 2026 national polls.
The question gripping the country today is not about the timing of the election, but about its very character: will Bangladesh’s oldest and once-dominant party be allowed to return to the ballot, or will its exclusion reshape the nation’s political future?
The interim government has fixed February for the vote, promising a fair, festive and inclusive election. Yet the Awami League, outlawed under the Anti-Terrorism Act in May after the bloody July Uprising of 2024, remains barred from politics.
The uprising, led by Gen-Z students and workers, toppled Sheikh Hasina’s authoritarian regime after security forces massacred protesters in Dhaka and across the country. The bloodshed forced Hasina to flee to India, where she continues to insist she remains “legally elected Prime Minister until 2029” and urges her followers to “fight for her rights.”
But rivals dismiss such claims. BNP Standing Committee member Dr AZM Zahid Hossain this week reiterated that the AL leadership must face justice for enforced disappearances, vote rigging and killings carried out during Hasina’s rule.
“The Awami League cannot be absolved of crimes against the people,” he declared Wednesday, even while noting BNP’s principled opposition to bans imposed by decree.
On the ground, anger has not subsided. Demonstrations at Shahbagh and other flashpoints show persistent demands to permanently dissolve the AL.
Some analysts, however, frame the issue in harsher terms. “After World War II, Adolf Hitler’s party was banned in the interest of global peace and security. The same logic applies here—if the Awami League is allowed back into elections, it will plunge politics into chaos and poison the social fabric” .
Student groups, Islamist organisations and civil society actors have rallied around that demand, though Jamaat-e-Islami has shifted its focus to the Jatiya Party and the 14-party alliance, accusing them of collusion with Hasina.
In the meantime, fresh unrest has raised alarm. In recent weeks, incidents of sabotage have erupted from the Secretariat to the streets under the cover of diverse demands—protests over wages, local grievances and student issues have suddenly spiralled into violence, which the government and opposition alike describe as deliberate attempts to destabilise the country.
The most shocking came last week in Khagrachhari, where three people were killed in clashes over a rape allegation that doctors later confirmed to be false. Officials and analysts now point to the AL’s loyalist networks—both at home and abroad—as trying to manufacture flashpoints to derail the upcoming election.
“Banned or exiled parties often resort to disruption to discredit elections,” observed Dr Rezaul Karim, professor of political science at Dhaka University. “If the Awami League cannot contest, its best option is to delegitimise the process. The government must secure both the streets and the ballot boxes.”
Some analysts, however, frame the issue in harsher terms. “After World War II, Adolf Hitler’s party was banned in the interest of global peace and security. The same logic applies here—if the Awami League is allowed back into elections, it will plunge politics into chaos and poison the social fabric,” argued Prof Amzad Hossain of Rajshahi University.
The interim government itself has echoed this view. Dr Nazrul has warned of intelligence reports suggesting that AL operatives in exile are mobilising to spread fear and confusion. Opposition figures go further, warning that the same tactics of intimidation and sabotage that once kept Hasina in power may now be used to undermine the election itself.
The dilemma is stark. Lifting the ban risks reopening old wounds for a nation still traumatised by the July massacres. Keeping it risks staging an election that, while peaceful, may lack the full inclusivity needed for global legitimacy.
Four months from the vote, Bangladesh stands at a crossroads: the exclusion of the Awami League—the very party that once led the independence struggle but now faces charges of tyranny, bloodshed and conspiracy—could either clear the path to a new democratic beginning or plunge the nation into deeper turbulence.
Whether stability or chaos will define the February election is the defining question hanging over Bangladesh’s future.
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