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The Bangladesh Awami League (Bengali: বাংলাদেশ আওয়ামী লীগ, lit. 'Bangladesh People's League'), simply known as Awami League (Bengali: [awɐmiliːg]), is one of the major political parties in Bangladesh. The oldest existing political party in the country, the party played the leading role in achieving the independence of Bangladesh. It is also one of the two most dominant parties in the country, along with its archrival Bangladesh Nationalist Party.
The party was founded as the East Pakistan Awami Muslim League (Urdu: آل پاکستان عوامی مسلم لیگ) in 1949 by the Bengali nationalists Abdul Hamid Khan Bhashani, Yar Mohammad Khan and Shamsul Huq, and joined later by Huseyn Shaheed Suhrawardy who went on to become Prime Minister of Pakistan. It was established as the socialist Bengali alternative to the domination of the Muslim League in Pakistan and over centralisation of the government. The party quickly gained a massive popular support in East Bengal (later named East Pakistan) and eventually led the forces of Bengali nationalism in the struggle against West Pakistan's military and political establishment. The party under the leadership of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, led the struggle for independence, first through massive populist and civil disobedience movements, such as the Six Point Movement and 1971 Non-Cooperation Movement, and then during the Bangladesh Liberation War.
After the emergence of independent Bangladesh, Awami League under the leadership of Sheikh Mujib won the first general elections. The party along with most other parties of Bangladesh were merged into Bangladesh Krishak Sramik Awami League (BaKSAL) in January 1975, where Awami League politicians played the leading role in BaKSAL. After the August 1975 coup, the party was forced by subsequent military regimes onto the political sidelines, and many of its senior leaders and activists were executed or jailed. In 1981, Sheikh Hasina, the daughter of Sheikh Mujib, became the president of the party and continued to hold the position to this date.
The party played a crucial role in the anti-authoritarian movements against the regime of Hussain Muhammad Ershad. After the restoration of democracy amidst mass uprising in 1990, the Awami League emerged as one of the principal players of Bangladeshi politics. The party formed governments winning the 1996, 2008, 2014, 2018 and 2024 general elections. Throughout its tenure as the ruling party from 2009 to 2024 under Sheikh Hasina,[7] Bangladesh experienced democratic backsliding[8][9][10] and was consistently described as authoritarian,[a] dictatorial and fascist.[b] It was finally overthrown with the Student–People's uprising in August 2024. Since then, the party remained underground.
Sheikh Hasina, the former prime minister of Bangladesh, and Obaidul Quader, currently have been serving the president and the general secretary of the party, respectively. Sheikh Hasina, has headed the party since 1981. Amongst the leaders of the Awami League, five have become the President of Bangladesh, four have become the Prime Minister of Bangladesh and one became the Prime Minister of Pakistan.
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- ^ "Awami League | political party, Bangladesh". Britannica. Retrieved 7 November 2024.
- ^ Dwivedi, Madhu shree (23 October 2024). "The Awami League at a Crossroads: Navigating Political Upheaval and Future Challenges in Bangladesh". Indian Council of World Affairs. Retrieved 7 November 2024.
- ^ "An interim govt will run Bangladesh, says army chief Waker-Uz-Zaman". bdnews24.com. 5 August 2024. Retrieved 5 August 2024.
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- ^ Riaz, Ali (21 September 2020). "The pathway of democratic backsliding in Bangladesh". Democratization. 28: 179–197. doi:10.1080/13510347.2020.1818069. ISSN 1351-0347. S2CID 224958514. Archived from the original on 28 December 2020. Retrieved 24 September 2020.
- ^ Hossain, Akram; Mahmudul, Haque (19 October 2021). Survival Strategies of Jamaat as a Religion-Based Political Opponent in Bangladesh. Singapore: Palgrave Macmillan. pp. 105–123. doi:10.1007/978-981-16-4314-9_7. ISBN 978-981-16-4314-9. S2CID 239951371.
- ^ Hossain, Akram; Mahmudul, Haque (19 October 2021). Survival Strategies of Jamaat as a Religion-Based Political Opponent in Bangladesh. Singapore: Palgrave Macmillan. pp. 105–123. doi:10.1007/978-981-16-4314-9_7. ISBN 978-981-16-4314-9. S2CID 239951371.
- ^ Khan, Q. M. Jalal (25 June 2021). President Ziaur Rahman: Legendary Leader of Bangladesh. Writers Republic LLC. ISBN 9781637285749.
- ^ Ruud, Arild; Hasan, Mubashar (18 October 2021). Masks of Authoritarianism Hegemony, Power and Public Life in Bangladesh. Singapore: Springer Nature Singapore. p. 112. ISBN 9789811643149.
- ^ "Bangladesh: Violent Autocratic Crackdown Ahead of Elections". Human Rights Watch. 26 November 2023. Retrieved 21 August 2024.
- ^ "Bangladesh's dictator flees—leaving behind a dangerous vacuum". The Economist. 5 August 2024. ISSN 0013-0613. Retrieved 21 August 2024.
- ^ Ahmed, Redwan; Ellis-Petersen, Hannah (26 July 2024). "Bangladesh student protests turn into 'mass movement against a dictator'". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 15 August 2024.
{{cite news}}:|archive-date=/|archive-url=timestamp mismatch; 26 July 2024 suggested (help) - ^ "Sheikh Hasina: Bangladesh democracy icon-turned-iron lady". France 24. 7 January 2024. Archived from the original on 7 January 2024.
- ^ "Sheikh Hasina forced to resign: What happened and what's next?". Al Jazeera English. 5 August 2024.
- ^ McVeigh, Tracy (6 August 2024). "Sheikh Hasina: child of the revolution who eroded Bangladesh's democracy". The Guardian.
- ^ "'Free from dictatorship': Bangladesh protesters celebrate Sheikh Hasina's exit". India Today. 6 August 2024.
- ^ "'Not only Bangladesh ... ':Farooq Abdullah's cryptic lesson 'for every dictator'". The Times of India. 6 August 2024.
- ^ "Sheikh Hasina: From a pro-democratic leader to a dictator". Daily Sun. August 2024.
- ^ "Sheikh Hasina: How Bangladesh's protesters ended a 15-year reign". BBC. 5 August 2024.
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