Awami League’s state with the passage of time

The activities of the Awami League, which was founded on June 23, 1949, a quarter of a century ago, are currently banned. After the tragic fall of the Awami League government in the August 2024 mass uprising, the party’s activists and supporters faced an existential crisis. The unelected interim government that came after the uprising banned the party’s activities on May 12, 2025 under the Anti-Terrorism Act. The government elected to the 13th National Parliament has also kept this ban in force.

The party, which set out with the promise of realising the rights of the ‘Awam’ or common people of the then East Bengal province, led the Liberation War of Bangladesh after 21 years of its inception. The Awami League was also banned in post-independence Bangladesh.

Currently, among the many allegations against the Awami League and its affiliates, there is the charge of a conspiracy to endanger public security and sovereignty. It is a cruel irony of fate. The party, which was born as a people’s party and under whose leadership an independent and sovereign state was born through a long struggle, is now banned on charges of acting against the public interest and engaging in terrorist activities.

Not only are its activities banned; most of the top leaders of the Awami League have either left the country or are imprisoned. Most of the party’s offices have been set on fire, demolished, or locked up. Although various political parties have been banned in the past, they have not faced such a situation.

In addition, many ordinary people who are not organisationally affiliated with the Awami League but support it ideologically have also been subjected to indescribable adverse situations. Many have lost their livelihood, wealth, dignity, and even their lives. This is an unprecedented event in the political history of Bangladesh. At least the current generation has not witnessed such an event.

The question is, why did a traditional party like the Awami League face such a fate? Many in the Awami League keep talking about the ‘meticulously designed’ conspiracy theory. In politics, there will be strategic battles between the parties and those who win in this remain in the driver’s seat. This is a common occurrence in the case of politics. However, it is not normal for a party to collapse with the fall of the government. It can be under a lot of pressure.

Whatever the other reasons, the main reason is that the Awami League, having been in power for a long time, had become isolated from the people on the one hand, and on the other hand, it had also distanced itself from ordinary workers, supporters and well-wishers. The leaders forgot that the organisation lives not in the luxurious party office, but in the hearts of the workers, supporters and the common people. In fact, no matter how much pressure is given, a party with people’s involvement cannot be destroyed through conspiracy. Therefore, this political disaster of the Awami League can be a lesson for any political party.

The question is, what will the Awami League do in this situation? Now is the ideal time to find out its own mistakes, which is not possible when in power. The party needs to engage in self-criticism. Firstly, the Awami League must admit this simple truth that the party had become hostage to looters and vested interests. Secondly, the leadership of the Awami League had forgotten that the party and the government were separate entities. The existence of the Awami League as a political party had disappeared within the government. Thirdly, the Awami League’s bureaucratic dependence on the government and the party had put democracy in crisis. Above all, the stories of several mega-loots, including in the banking sector, overshadowed development and deeply affected the common people. Gradually, the common people started turning their backs on the Awami League.

Many mega-development projects were implemented during the Awami League government. They could not take credit for them due to financial scandals. The biggest mistake of the Awami League government was the lack of democracy in the party and the country. The national elections held during the Awami League government were not credible. As a result of winning uncontested elections, the people’s representatives became authoritarian instead of being accountable to the people. The use of party symbols in local government elections limited the number of choices for the general public in the election of public representatives.

Traditionally, in local elections, people prioritise the ethics and acceptability of the candidate over the party ideology in the process of selecting representatives. The absence of alternative candidates in representative elections weakens the foundation of democracy. If local elections are open, leaders and activists of the party that boycotted the national elections also participate in these elections. In this way, a minimal democratic process is in place. The wrong policies and steps of the Awami League government had limited the democratic process. At one point, people even lost interest in going to the polling station. In the 2024 elections, Awami League people were also not interested in going to the polling station.

In addition, the imported and unprincipled muscle power in the competition to create subordinates within the party added a new dimension to making the party unpopular. They are now known as ‘gupta’. The extravagant life and feudal behaviour of many leaders pushed honest, dedicated and self-respecting workers away from the party. Many grassroots members of the Awami League have been heard saying that they did not suffer the torture and harassment that their party had to face when they were in the opposition. As a result of the long-term practice of apoliticality in the party and the country, the 77-year-old party had become fragile even before the mass uprising. Therefore, if it does not carry out self-criticism, the Awami League will lose the opportunity to gain self-strength.

This truth is also applicable to everyone – political parties cannot be banned in a democratic state. If the people do not want it, it becomes an ineffective institution. Many such examples are before our eyes. Political power should be confronted through politics, not through the use of force or misuse of law. If the political parties of the third world fail to realise this truth, they will never be able to get out of the vicious circle of politics.

Writer: Md Abdur Rahim is a Professor, Department of Islamic History and Culture, Dhaka University

The article was originally published in the print and online editions of The Daily Samakal and has been rewritten for the English version by Mohammed Humayun Kabir, Assistant News Editor