Student-led NCP demands ban on Awami League, accuses party of fostering fascism in Bangladesh

The student-led National Citizen Party (NCP) has called for a ban on the Awami League, accusing the once-dominant political force of establishing fascism during its time in power.

At a rally held in Dhaka’s Shahbagh on Saturday (March 22), NCP leaders urged the authorities to revoke the Awami League’s registration, claiming the party no longer held a legitimate place in Bangladesh’s political landscape.

The call comes months after mass student-led protests ousted Sheikh Hasina’s government, ending a 16-year rule marked by allegations of electoral manipulation and authoritarianism.

“People defeated the Awami League at the cost of thousands of lives and blood,” said Akhtar Hossain, the party’s member secretary, in remarks reported by state-run news agency BSS. “We will not allow it to be rehabilitated. When we have a single drop of blood in our bodies, the politics of fascism and Mujibism will not be allowed to return.”

Hasina, who fled to India following the protests in August last year, had been criticised by opposition groups for consolidating power through controversial elections in 2014, 2018, and 2024. The NCP accuses her government of dismantling democratic institutions under the guise of stability.

Nahid Islam, the NCP’s convener, echoed those sentiments at the rally. According to local outlet Prothom Alo, he warned that any effort to restore the Awami League’s political footing would be “dealt with an iron hand”.

“Not just the Awami League, but all its allies and beneficiaries must be held accountable,” he said, dismissing circulating rumours of a plan to rehabilitate the party as “baseless”.

The NCP emerged as a key force during last year’s uprising, which drew tens of thousands of students and activists into the streets in opposition to what they described as a “hijacked democracy”. The protest movement eventually led to the collapse of the Hasina-led government, marking a dramatic shift in the country’s political direction.

With inputs from agencies