Banned Awami League organising through home meetings and phone calls as flash processions grow

The Awami League, whose activities are banned, is trying to become active on the streets again through home meetings, online activity and flash processions. In recent days, processions by the party and the banned Chhatra League in different parts of the country, and violence surrounding those programmes, have become a topic of discussion.

Sheikh Mohammad Nayeem, deputy international affairs secretary of the Dhaka University unit of the banned Chhatra League, said: 'We do not stay in houses. We stay outside. From outside we communicate and try to work out how to gather together for a procession. Processions are happening more frequently now, and more people are joining them.'

Nayeem said Chhatra League had held processions in different places over the past few days and Awami League leaders and activists had also tried to show their presence through processions. The reason, in his words, was 'the party's instruction'. He said that when discussion began over seeking Sheikh Hasina's passport, the centre instructed them to hold programmes all day on October 10, and everyone tried to take to the streets in their own way around that.

Speaking to several Chhatra League leaders, it emerged that leaders at different levels of the organisation are holding regular home meetings — sometimes at restaurants, sometimes at houses. Leaders living abroad are also speaking regularly in virtual meetings.

A leader from outside Dhaka, speaking on condition of anonymity, said contact was limited at first but leaders have now increased communication. In his words: 'There was frustration before. The senior Chhatra League leaders were not there. Everyone had fled in their own way. We stayed in hiding then. There was no contact at all. Now they are contacting us too, and we are becoming active.'

Asked what central leaders say when they make contact, he replied: 'They say, hold processions, take to the streets. They motivate us. They tell us to stay careful. Committees are being formed anew. The leaders have said those who stay active will get places in the committees.'

Monir Hossain Mitul, secretary of the Bhagyakul Union Awami League in Sripur upazila of Munshiganj, said that although there is a leadership vacuum in the area, activists and supporters are still in the locality. He said: 'The district or upazila leaders are not there. We have no connection with them either. But contact happens through those of us who are union leaders. Ten days ago we held a procession, coordinating by mobile phone.'

According to Mitul, people are told by mobile phone where and when to come. Before taking to the street, two teams stay a little ahead and behind to give 'protocol', while the procession moves in the middle; the target is to procession safely and for everyone to get away safely. Nayeem also said the instruction is for everyone to run activities wherever they are, with secrecy and safety given top priority so information does not reach intelligence agencies or other parties.

Nayeem said the party's instruction is to increase open programmes. In his words, leaders and activists who had fallen out of contact are coming together again, and their objective at this moment is to keep the streets alive centred on Sheikh Hasina's return.

After the fall of Sheikh Hasina's government in the July mass uprising, the Awami League's top leaders fled; many are in hiding inside the country and some are in jail after arrest. The picture is the same for leaders and activists of its affiliated and associate organisations. Many of them are now slowly beginning to come forward.

However, cocktail explosions, arson and acts of sabotage are taking place in different parts of the country around the party's programmes, and one person has also died in these incidents. A video recently spread on Facebook shows motorcyclists chanting Awami League slogans in front of the Army Golf Club in Dhaka on November 5, with someone throwing a cocktail from within the procession.

Last Tuesday, Awami League leaders were seen taking position in Gopalganj by burning tyres on the road. The same day, Hasib Al Islam, a leader of Chhatra Shakti, the student organisation of the NCP, was attacked in Sreemangal; videos of that attack were later uploaded by Awami League-supporting influencers and various Facebook pages.

The governing party BNP is blaming the Awami League for this violence, but Awami League leaders deny it. The assessment inside parties such as the BNP, Jamaat and the NCP is that the Awami League mainly wants to create an 'atmosphere of fear' through programmes or violence.

Awami League joint general secretary Bahuddin Nasim said the Awami League is a party of peace, not violence, and that it never indulges in the politics of conspiracy, destruction or terror. He said that although they are not allowed to hold processions, processions and participation are increasing, hundreds of processions are taking place, and this has created pressure on the government.

Political analyst and Dhaka University political science professor Dr Sabbir Ahmed said weaknesses in the law enforcement agencies could give the Awami League an advantage. In his words, the more the police's weakness is exposed, the more flash processions they will hold. He said that once loss of life and property begins, it can also go against the government, so there are gains and losses in many directions.

The Home Ministry, however, rejects the claim that law enforcement is weak and speaks of strict action. Home Minister Salahuddin Ahmed recently told the National Parliament that it is not logical to describe the country's law and order situation as extremely grave by putting together one or two symbolic incidents. Assuring the nation, he said no blueprint of any conspiracy — inside the country, beyond the border or combined — would be implemented here.