Court will decide whether Awami League will be banned: Zahed Ur Rahman

Zahed Ur Rahman, Information and Broadcasting adviser to Prime Minister Tarique Rahman, has said that the government does not believe the Awami League, whose activities are currently banned, will be able to do “very much”.

He added that while the party's activities remain banned at present, the court will determine whether the party itself will ultimately be banned.

Zahed Ur Rahman made the remarks on Tuesday while responding to journalists' questions at a regular press briefing held at the Secretariat.

During the briefing, he also highlighted various government activities, including Prime Minister Tarique Rahman's visits to Malaysia and China.

A journalist asked about the deployment of the Army in three cities and three districts surrounding the anniversary of the Awami League, the presence of activists from various political parties in the field, and the government's measures and position on the issue.

In response, Zahed Ur Rahman said that he believed political parties had taken to the field for a “symbolic” reason.

Explaining his position, he said, “It is a banned organisation. Actually, calling it a banned organisation is not entirely accurate. Technically speaking, if we refer to Awami League by name, it is important to clarify whether the party itself will be banned. That determination will be made by the court, by the ICT (International Crimes Tribunal). Following the trial, it will be determined whether they (Awami League) were involved in crimes against humanity. What has happened so far is that, while they remain under trial, their activities will remain prohibited under the Anti-Terrorism Act 2009. Therefore, their programmes are prohibited. If this party now seeks to take to the streets with any programme, it is engaging in an unlawful act. Naturally, the government will take action in such circumstances. Political parties actually have nothing to do here. They may be present symbolically because the Awami League is claiming that it will be able to do many things.”

The adviser continued, “Regarding the deployment of the Army, I would say that this does not mean they (the Awami League) are capable of doing very much. Personally, I do not believe the Awami League possesses that level of moral courage. At the very least, one needs a certain degree of moral courage. We have a saying, “The guilty ones protest too loudly.” For the Awami League to speak loudly before us, we need to lose our memory first. Everyone would have to suffer from dementia. Only then could the Awami League ever speak boldly in front of us. Before that, I do not think so. Therefore, they do not possess that moral courage. And if there is no moral courage, looters, mafias and thieves generally do not possess much moral courage either.”

Zahed Ur Rahman further said, “People had stood in front of guns during July 2024 because they possessed moral courage. They were not opportunists. They loved the country. They wanted to improve this nation. Despite so many bullets and so many deaths, people returned the next day and stood there again. Therefore, there is no reason to believe they (the Awami League) can achieve anything significant. Nevertheless, the government must do what is necessary. In those districts where it considered the risk to be somewhat higher—because they may still have the capacity to carry out limited acts of sabotage, and because they have substantial financial resources that could potentially be used for such activities—the Army has been deployed in areas considered more vulnerable in the interest of public safety. This does not mean that the government believes the Awami League is capable of doing a great deal. I certainly do not believe that.”

Also present at the press briefing were Sayed Abdal Ahmed, principal information officer of the Press Information Department, and Md Yasin, additional secretary of the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting.