Govt bans Chhatra League

The interim government has banned Chhatra League, the student wing of Bangladesh Awami League, for their involvement in the killings and destructive and terrorist activities, both directly and through incitement, during the July revolution.

According to a gazette notification issued by the Public Security Division of the Home Ministry on Wednesday, the decision will be implemented under Clause 18(1) of the Anti-Terrorism Act, 2009.

According to the notification, Chhatra League will be recognized as a terrorist organization from now.

Several organizations and platforms, including the Anti-Discriminatory Student Movement, demanded a ban on Chhatra League for the atrocities committed during the July uprising.

The ultimatum issued by the leaders of the Anti-Discriminatory Student Movement was supposed to end on Thursday.

Acting editor of Daily Amar Desh Mahmudur Rahman also raised the same demand recently. He said that the Chhatra League must be banned as a terror organization. 

There are innumerable allegations against leaders and activists of the Chhatra League over murder, rape, attack and extortion taking place during the past three tenures of the Awami League government. Allegations have also been raised against the Chhatra League for setting up torture-rooms at different halls of public universities across the country to torture general students. 

Allegations of extortion against the Chhatra League are not new. Lastly, allegations of attack and atrocities against the organization surfaced during the July uprising.

Islami Chhatra Shibir, the student wing of Jamaat-e-Islami, and the banned Hizb ut-Tahrir have also been campaigning for the ban on Chhatra League. 

The previous government had banned Jamaat, Chhatra Shibir and all associated groups on August 1, for their involvement in terrorist activities, in light of their role against the country's Liberation War in 1971. After the fall of Awami League, the interim government lifted the ban on Jamaat-Shibir.