India views Awami League ban with concern

Bangladesh's election commission has suspended the registration of ousted prime minister Sheikh Hasina's political party, barring its participation in future polls, a decision described as "concerning" by India yesterday.

- 

It came after the interim government of Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus banned the Awami League party on Sunday, pending the outcome of a trial over its crackdown on mass protests that prompted Hasina's ouster last year.

The Awami League is the oldest political party in Bangladesh and led the country's liberation war in 1971. According to the United Nations, up to 1,400 protesters died in July-August 2024, when Hasina's government launched a campaign to silence the opposition.