Bangladesh Chhatra League (BCL), Awami League party's student organisation which was led by now ousted prime minister of Bangladesh Sheikh Hasina, has been banned by the interim government of Bangladesh. This came in after the Anti-Discrimination Student Movement insistently demanded the ban.
Md Abdul Momen, Senior Secretary, Public Security Division under the Ministry of Home Affairs, signed a notification, dated October 23, stating that the Awami League-led government, over the last 15 years, has been engaged in activities that have upended public safety. This includes killings, rape, tormentation, assault in student dormitories as well as manipulation of tenders.
The notification also informed that there was enough proof to indicate that even after the fall of the Awami League government, the student organisation continued to engage in such activities.
As a result, the interim government declared a ban on Bangladesh Chhatra League under Section 18(1) of the Anti-Terrorism Act, 2009. "The ban will come into effect immediately," read the notification.
"Bangladesh and Dhaka University are now free from stigma. We would like to thank the interim government," said Nusrat Tabassum, a coordinator of the student movement, at Raju Sculpture one of the country’s premier universities.
This order comes just a day after the Anti-Discrimination Students Movement laid out a five-point demand including the scrapping of Bangladesh’s Constitution, President Shahabuddin’s removal, and a ban on the Chhatra League.
