New Delhi: The Bangladesh interim government Wednesday banned the Bangladesh Chhatra League (BCL), the student wing of the Awami League, following growing student protests demanding a ban on all organisations affiliated with the Awami League.
A day after students associated with the Anti-Discrimination Students Movement protested outside the President’s office, demanding a ban on the 76-year-old organisation for its alleged atrocities, the interim government imposed the ban, citing the Anti-Terrorism Act, 2009. Additionally, a sit-in was staged outside the vice-chancellor’s residence at Dhaka University, calling for the BCL to be banned from campus.
Speaking to ThePrint, BCL president Saddam Hussain called the move “illegal”, adding that it had been done by an “unconstitutional, undemocratic and unauthorised” government.
“This is a mob-like government. We do not see any legality behind the ban. This ban is similar to Yahya Khan’s ban on the BCL during the 1971 Liberation War. We do not agree with it. BCL has always participated in democratic processes and will continue to do so.”
He also added that the blame for the sectarian violence during the quota protests were being deliberately thrust on the League whereas it was meticulously and deliberately planned by outside forces who wanted a backdoor entry without being identified.
BCL General Secretary Sheikh Walid Asif Enan voiced similar sentiments, arguing that the decision contradicts the ideals of Bangladesh’s founder, Mujibur Rahman.
“Even during the quota reform movement, we supported the reform and were with the students. However, we were against the vandalism that was done by the intruder group among students,” he said.
Following the ban on BCL, protesters organised a procession to celebrate the government’s decision. The students have announced a rally across various campuses in celebration today, local media reports stated.
However, critics, including Mujahidul Islam Selim, former president of the Communist Party of Bangladesh, argued that the government should have targeted individual offenders rather than banning the organisation as a whole. He expressed concern that such a ban might generate public sympathy for BCL members, despite their controversial actions, Daily Star reported.
Accused of corruption, sexual violence
Founded in 1948, the BCL has a storied past, having participated in significant movements such as the Liberation War and the Language Movement. However, it has faced increasing scrutiny since the Awami League came to power in 2009, with reports of violent incidents and corruption involving its members.
In 2019, following widespread criticism, then Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina had removed its president and general secretary—Rezwanul Haque Chowdhury Shovon and Golam Rabbani—from their positions in 2019.
Bangladesh Chhatra League, formerly known as the East Pakistan Student League, was founded by Sheikh Mujibur Rahman on 4 January, 1948. Naeemuddin Ahmed served as its first convener, while Khaleque Nawaz Khan was the founding general secretary. The group was influential in various historical movements, including the 1952 Language Movement, the 1954 general election victory of the United Front, the anti-Ayub movement in 1958, the education movement in 1962, the Six-Point Movement in 1966, and the mass uprising in 1968.
After Bangladesh gained independence in 1971, the organisation changed its name to the Bangladesh Chhatra League. During the Liberation War, the BCL was a key player but later split into two factions based on their loyalty to Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.
During the 1971 Bangladesh Liberation War, BCL members were recruited into the Mujib Bahini (also known as the Bengal Liberation Force), an armed group trained by India’s Research and Analysis Wing (R&AW).
Since the 1990s, numerous allegations of rape and sexual violence involving Chhatra League leaders and activists have emerged in the media.
The 1999 JU Anti-Rape Movement was a series of student protests at Jahangirnagar University in Bangladesh after BCL activists celebrated the 100th rape committed by their leader Jasimuddin Manik, who was the General Secretary of the university’s BCL unit in 1998.
In 2018, Daily Star detailed how BCL members intimidate women, calling it ‘a reign of terror’, adding “Sexual harassment is one of the most common allegations against BCL men—and one of the main tools they use to exert their influence.”
In 2019, the online news portal Dhaka Tribune referred to the organisation as “the brand of shame”, after a university student was allegedly killed by BCL members for a Facebook post criticising Sheikh Hasina’s visit to India.
In September 2022, media reports emerged alleging that the leadership of the Chhatra League at Eden Mohila College was involved in the sexual exploitation of female students, along with blackmail, extortion, illegal seat trading, student torture, and taking control of hostels and the canteen.
In July this year, over 350 students were injured at Dhaka University and other universities and colleges nationwide when BCL members launched an attack on students advocating for reforms in government job quotas.
Why BCL was banned
The government justified the ban by citing evidence of BCL’s involvement in various criminal activities, including murder, torture, and oppression of students in dormitory settings. The notification highlighted allegations of financial exploitation and violent attacks against protesters.
The gazette states that the government based its decision on section 18 (1) of the country’s Anti-Terrorism Act of 2009, officially designating the BCL as a banned entity.
This section stipulates that “Under this act, the government may, upon reasonable grounds indicating that an individual or entity is involved in terrorist activities, order the inclusion of that individual or entity in the schedule or to proscribe it and add it to the schedule.”
“Awami League’s ‘brotherly organisation’ chhatra league has committed murder, torture, and rape of students living in overcrowded dormitory rooms, commonly referred to as ‘gono rooms’. The BCL is also accused of taking payments for dormitory accommodations, manipulating tenders, and committing acts of sexual violence, among other crimes, particularly during the last 15 years of the Awami League’s rule,” the gazette stated.
“Since there is evidence of the BCL’s involvement in various conspiratorial, subversive, and terrorist activities against the state since the fall of the Awami League government on 5 August which have been widely reported in the media, and the involvement of some BCL leaders and members in criminal acts has been substantiated in court,” it added.
It also claims that during the student protests on 15 July, BCL leaders launched indiscriminate attacks on demonstrators and the general public, resulting in numerous fatalities and putting many lives at risk.
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