Ban On Awami League Concerning Development: MEA Spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal

New Delhi: The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) on Tuesday said that the ban on the Awami League, which is led by former Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, was a concerning development.

Addressing reporters here during the weekly media briefing, MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said, "The ban on the Awami League without due process is a concerning development. As a democracy, India is naturally concerned at curtailment of democratic freedoms and shrinking political space. We strongly support the early holding of free, fair and inclusive elections in Bangladesh."

The Muhammad Yunus-led interim government’s Council of Advisers or the Cabinet had slapped a ban on “all activities of Awami League”, including in cyberspace, under an anti-terrorism law.

Reacting to the move, in a strongly worded statement posted on X, the Awami League said, “We are rejecting and protesting the fascist autocrat Yunus government’s decision with disgust...Awami League will carry on its activities in an appropriate course, defying the decision of the fascist Yunus government.”

The party regretted that “today’s independent Bangladesh” had to witness the ban on Awami League activities by an “undemocratic fascist” government that now runs the country “without people's mandate”, while the country “earned independence and sovereignty under its (Awami League’s) leadership”. Formed in 1949, the Awami League led the movement for the autonomy of Bengalis in the then East Pakistan for decades and eventually led the Liberation War in 1971.

The announcement to ban Hasina’s Awami League came after the student-led newly-floated National Citizen Party (NCP) activists rallied since Thursday and carried out blockades across Dhaka demanding the ban.