Lifting ban on AL activities a possibility

Chief Adviser Prof Muhammad Yunus has said that the Awami League's activities are suspended for the time being and "anytime it will be open".

"They [Awami League] remain valid as a party, but activities for the time being are suspended. Anytime it will be open," he said in a recent interview with news organisation Zeteo on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York.

Asked by Zeteo's Mehdi Hasan whether he meant that AL's activities could be "unsuspended", Yunus said, "That's a possibility."

The chief adviser also said Amartya Sen and others' criticisms about the action against the AL are wrong because the interim government has not banned the party, which was ousted through the July uprising.

Asked how banning a group from contesting polls could be democratic, the chief adviser said the matter rests with the Election Commission, which considered the possibilities and the characteristics of the party that may disrupt the whole election.

"So, they [EC] thought it's better not to...," he said.

When Mehdi said the AL has millions of supporters in Bangladesh, Yunus said, "I wouldn't say millions. They have supporters, but I don't know how many [are] left."

The chief adviser added that bowing to a group just because it is powerful does not mean supporting it.

He alleged that the Awami League is not behaving as a political party.

"They have not expressed remorse that they have killed people. They have not taken responsibility for anything that they have done during this period. Not a word. Instead, they're always alleging that somebody else is responsible for that," he said.

'STAY 5 YEARS'

During the interview, Mehdi questioned the interim government's time in power, asking why it is taking too long -- 18 months -- to hold the election while Nepal's interim leader promised to hand over power after six months.

Yunus replied, "You said people are saying it takes so much time. There are also people who say, 'Stay 5 years, stay 10 years, stay 50 years.' So, people are saying all kinds of things."

He said no one defined how long the interim government should be in power. "It's our decision how long we should be there. But we have an understanding that we have three tasks to perform. One's reform. And there's a trial. The last one is election."

The chief adviser said reform was a "big agenda" to have "a different kind of structure that will block the path for "fascism to come back".

If the election is held without the reforms, the "same old stuff will happen again under different names, different pictures and so on", he said.

ATTACKS ON HINDUS

The chief adviser dismissed the allegation that violence targeting Hindus increased since he took charge after the uprising.  

"One of the specialties of India right now is fake news. A barrage of fake news," he claimed. 

Mehdi then asked if Yunus was insisting that there is no anti-Hindu violence.

At that, the chief adviser said there were "some conflicts" that were not communal in nature, but related to issues like land and family disputes.

When Mehdi noted that The New York Times and other independent media have reported that attacks on Hindus have increased, Yunus said, "No, it has not increased. I would say [the] government is very alert on that one because this is the one thing India is always pushing that we are…"