Dhaka, Bangladesh (BBN) - The interim government has banned Awami League's student wing Bangladesh Chhatra League on Wednesday under Anti-Terrorism Act 2009.
The home ministry issued a gazette notification in this regard which will come into force immediately.
The notification states that the Bangladesh Chhatra League, the student wing affiliated with the Awami League, has been involved in activities that undermine public safety, including murder, torture, systematic oppression in student dormitories, seat trading, tender manipulation, rape, and sexual harassment during various periods following Bangladesh's independence, particularly during the last 15 years of authoritarian rule. Substantial evidence of these activities has been published in major media outlets, and some of the organisation's members have been convicted in court for their involvement in terrorist activities.
During the anti-discrimination student movement that began on July 15, Chhatra League members launched frenzied and indiscriminate armed attacks on protesting students and the general public, resulting in the killing of hundreds of innocent students and civilians and endangering the lives of countless others.
The government has sufficient evidence to prove that even after the fall of the Awami League government on August 5, the Bangladesh Chhatra League has continued to engage in conspiratorial, destructive, and provocative activities, as well as various acts of terrorism.
In light of this, the government has declared the Bangladesh Chhatra League banned under Section 18(1) of the Anti-Terrorism Act, 2009, and has listed the organization as a prohibited entity in Schedule 2 of that law.
BBN/SSR/AD