) Hundreds of student activists and leaders of the National Citizens’ Party (NCP), affiliated to the powerful Students Against Discrimination body – which toppled the Sheikh Hasina government in August last year, are holding a sit-in in Dhaka’s Shahbagh intersection demanding a ban on the Awami League.
National Citizen Party (NCP) convenor Hasnat Abdullah has declared a road blockade unless the Hasina’s Awami League party is formally banned.
The call triggered mass mobilisation, with thousands of NCP and Students Against Discrimination (SAD) supporters flooding the area in protest, with Saturday being the second day of their protest.
Hasnat in an address to the gathering said, “Our voices do not reach the interim government. The cries of the martyrs do not reach them, the screams of the injured do not reach them,” The Daily Star reported.
“We will leave here and blockade Shahbagh. We will continue the blockade until a notification is issued banning the Awami League,” he added.
A rally demanding a ban on the Awami League began on Friday afternoon with the protestors gathering near the Chief Advisor’s official residence. By early evening, the rally, led by Hasnat Abdullah, moved towards Shahbhagh.
In response, the police set up barricades on the road.
Thousands of protestors began chanting slogans demanding a ban on the Awami League. The blockade was supported by leaders and workers from several Islamist parties, including Jamaat-e-Islami’s Dhaka South Secretary Shafiqul Islam Masud, who were also present.
Hasnat Abdullah said, “We will not leave the streets until the fascist, genocidal Awami League is declared a terrorist organisation, its registration is revoked, the party is banned, and a clear judicial roadmap is presented for their trial.”
In response to massive demands from Islamic extremists and political parties, the interim government announced that it is seriously deliberating on a possible ban of the Awami League.
