Dhaka, Feb 12 The United Nations has recommended Bangladesh against banning any political party for the sake of a multiparty democracy.
"Refrain from political party bans that would undermine a return to a genuine multiparty democracy and effectively disenfranchise a large part of the Bangladeshi electorate," a fact-finding report published by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) detailed, reported leading Bangladesh daily Prothom Alo on Wednesday.
Last October, within weeks of coming to power after the fall of the government led by former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, the interim government had banned the student wing of Awami League, Bangladesh Chhatra League (BCL) under the Anti-Terrorism Act of 2009. The ban, citing BCL's alleged involvement in murder, torture, rape, and terrorism, was seen as a precursor to banning the parent organisation.
Students Against Discrimination (SAD) coordinators on Wednesday renewed their demand to ban Hasina's party. SAD continues to run a campaign with a hashtag #BanAwamiLeague on social media.
In another development, the High Court of Bangladesh on Tuesday directed the Election Commission of Bangladesh to register Bangladesh Minority Janata Party (BMJP) as a political party, following a petition filed by its President Sukriti Kumar Mondal challenging the legality of the EC's refusal to register his organisation as a political party.
Incidents of vandalism and mob violence have spread across Bangladesh since August 2024's well-planned coup to oust Hasina.
As brutal attacks on the leaders of Awami League continue, the historic residence of the founding father of Bangladesh Sheikh Mujibur Rahman was burnt down recently in a major act of vandalism.
The interim government, meanwhile, has been accused of promoting radicalism and lifting bans on radical Islamic parties like Jamaat-e-Islami and its student wing Islami Chhatra Shibir while providing shelter to extremist outfits.
Minorities, Hindus in particular, have been at the receiving end of persisting mob violence even as the interim government has been blamed for suppressing any kind of dissent in Bangladesh in the most brutal manner.
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