Won’t allow ‘fascist’ Awami League to hold rally: Bangladesh’s interim govt

Terming Awami League “fascist”, Bangladesh’s interim government on Saturday said it would not permit the deposed Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s party to hold its rally, which is planned on Sunday.

Chief Adviser Muhammad Yunus’ press secretary Shafiqul Alam in a Facebook post said that the interim government won’t tolerate any violence or attempt to break the law and order situation in the country.

“The Awami League in its current form is a fascist party. There is no way this fascist party will be allowed to hold protests in Bangladesh,” he said. Alam further cautioned that anyone who would try to hold rally, gathering and processions by taking orders from the mass murderer and dictator Sheikh Hasina would face full force of the law-enforcing agencies.

Alam’s statement followed a call from the Awami League on its verified Facebook page, urging supporters to gather at Shaheed Noor Hossain Chattar (or Zero Point) in Gulistan on Sunday to protest against what they described as “misrule”.

“Our protest is against the deprivation of the rights of the people of the country; against the rise of fundamentalist forces; conspiracy to disrupt the lives of the common people,” read the Facebook post.

This was the first call for a rally by the Awami League since August 5, when Hasina fled to India amid a mass student-led uprising against her government. The Awami League also urged partymen to stage rallies at grassroots levels across the country on Sunday in line with “the spirit of the call”.

The interim government had earlier banned Awami League’s student front, Bangladesh Chhatra League, over allegations of its “fascist role” during and before the “Anti-Discrimination Students Movement”.