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Political party in Bangladesh

The All Pakistan Awami Muslim League was founded in Dhaka, the capital of the Pakistani province of East Bengal, in 1949 by Bengali nationalists Abdul Hamid Khan Bhashani, and Shamsul Huq, and joined later by Huseyn Shaheed Suhrawardy who went on to become Prime Minister of Pakistan. The Pakistan Awami Muslim League was established as the 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, the Awami League won the first general elections in 1973 but was overthrown in 1975 after the assassination of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. The party was forced by subsequent military regimes onto the political sidelines, and many of its senior leaders and activists were executed or jailed. After the restoration of democracy in 1990, the Awami League emerged as one of the principal players of Bangladeshi politics. Since 2009, when the Awami League came to power, Bangladesh has experienced democratic backsliding. 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. The incumbent Prime Minister of Bangladesh, Sheikh Hasina, has headed the party since 1981.

During the post Mughal era no political parties existed in the area known as Bangla or Bangal. After the British arrived and established government, the system of political representation (though much later) was adopted in the area of Bangla (Bengal) or introduced in Bengal. After the official departure of the British, the area known as East Bengal became a part of Pakistan, and the establishment of the Muslim was led by its founder Muhammad Ali Jinnah and his Muslim League party. In 1948, there was rising agitation in East Bengal against the omission of Bengali script from coins, stamps and government exams. Thousands of students, mainly from the University of Dhaka, protested in Dhaka and clashed with security forces. Prominent student leaders including Shamsul Huq, Khaleque Nawaz Khan, Shawkat Ali, Kazi Golam Mahboob, Oli Ahad, and Abdul Wahed were arrested and the police were accused of repression while charging protesters. In March, senior Bengali political leaders were attacked whilst leading protests demanding that Bengali be declared an official language in Pakistan. The leaders included A. K. Fazlul Huq, the former Prime Minister of undivided Bengal. Amidst the rising discontent in East Bengal, Jinnah visited Dhaka and announced that Urdu would be sole state language of Pakistan given its significance to Islamic nationalism in South Asia. The announcement caused an emotional uproar in East Bengal, where the native Bengali population resented Jinnah for his attempts to impose a language they hardly understood on the basis of upholding unity. The resentment was further fuelled by rising discrimination against Bengalis in government, industry, bureaucracy and the armed forces and the dominance of the Muslim League. The Bengalis argued that they constituted the ethnic majority of Pakistan's population and Urdu was unknown to the majority in East Bengal. Moreover, the rich literary heritage of the Bengali language and the deep rooted secular culture of Bengali society led to a strong sense of linguistic and cultural nationalism amongst the people of East Bengal. The only significant language in Pakistan not written in the Persian Arabic script was Bengali. Against this backdrop, Bengali nationalism began to take root within the Muslim League and the party's Bengali members began to take a stand for recognition. On 23 June 1949, Bengali nationalists from East Bengal broke away from the Muslim League, Pakistan's dominant political party, and established the All Pakistan Awami Muslim League. Maulana Abdul Hamid Khan Bhashani and Shamsul Huq were elected the first president and general secretary of the party respectively, Ataur Rahman Khan was elected the vice president, Yar Mohammad Khan was elected as the treasurer, while Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, Khondaker Mostaq Ahmad and A. K. Rafiqul Hussain were elected the party's first joint secretaries. The party was formed to champion the rights of the masses in Pakistan against the powerful feudal establishment led by the Muslim League. However, due to its strength stemming from the discriminated Bengali population of Pakistan's eastern wing, the party eventually became associated and identified with East Bengal. In 1952, the Awami Muslim League and its student wing played an instrumental role in the Bengali Language Movement, during which Pakistani security forces fired upon thousands of protesting students demanding Bengali be declared an official language of Pakistan, famously killing a number of students including Abdus Salam, Rafiq Uddin Ahmed, Abul Barkat and Abdul Jabbar. The events of 1952 are widely seen by historians today as a turning point in the history of Pakistan and the Bengali people, as it was the starting point of the Bengali nationalist struggle that eventually culminated in the creation of Bangladesh in 1971. As tensions with the western wing grew due to the demands for greater provincial autonomy in East Bengal, Governor General Ghulam Muhammad dismissed the United Front government on 29 May 1954 under Article 92/A of the provisional constitution of Pakistan. The Awami League also began deepening relations with the United States. The government moved to join the Southeast Asia Treaty Organisation (SEATO) and Central Treaty Organisation (CENTO), the two strategic defence alliances in Asia inspired by the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). Maulana Bhashani, one of the party's founders, condemned the decision of the Suhrawardy government and called a conference in February 1957 at Kagmari, Tangail in East Bengal. He protested the move and the support lent by the Awami League leadership to the government. Bhashani broke away from the Awami League and then formed the leftist National Awami Party (NAP). By promulgating the Political Parties Elected Bodies Disqualified Ordinance, Ayub banned all major political parties in Pakistan. Senior politicians, including the entire top leadership of the Awami League, were arrested and most were kept under detention till 1963. In 1962, Ayub Khan drafted a new constitution, modelled on indirect election, through an electoral college, and termed it 'Basic Democracy'. Huseyn Shaheed Suhrawardy joined Nurul Amin, Khwaja Nazimuddin, Maulvi Farid Ahmed and Hamidul Haq Chowdhury in forming National Democratic Front against Ayub Khan's military backed rule and to restore elective democracy. However the alliance failed to obtain any concessions. Instead the electoral colleges appointed a new parliament and the President exercised executive authority. On 5 December 1963, Huseyn Shaheed Suhrawardy was found dead in his hotel room in Beirut, Lebanon. His sudden death under mysterious circumstances gave rise to speculation within the Awami League and the general population in East Pakistan that he had been poisoned. This win gave the Awami League a healthy majority in the 313 seat National Assembly and placed it in a position to establish a national government without a coalition partner. This was not acceptable to the political leaders of West Pakistan who feared the 6 points were a step towards breaking up the country and led directly to the events of the Bangladesh Liberation War. A particular point of disagreement was transferring 6 powers to one province which was unprecedented. The Awami League leaders, taking refuge in India, successfully led the war against the Pakistan Army throughout 1971. Leader Sheikh Mujib was arrested by the Pakistan Army on 25 March 1971, but the Bangladeshi people continued the fight to free themselves for nine months. After victory on 16 December 1971, the party formed the national government of Bangladesh. In 1972, under Sheikh Mujib, the party name was changed to "Awami League". The new government faced many challenges as they rebuilt the country and carried out mine clearing operations. The party had pro Pakistani newspaper editors arrested and shut down the nations' newspapers leaving only four in operation. Food shortages were also a major concern of the Awami League. War had damaged all forms of farming. The party aligned itself with NAM, and leaned towards the Soviet bloc. The party was accused of corruption by supporters of Pakistan. In 1974 Bangladesh suffered a famine: 70,000 people died, and support for Mujib declined. Bangladesh continued exporting jute to Cuba, violating US economic sanctions, the Nixon government barred grain imports to Bangladesh. This exacerbated famine conditions. In January 1975, facing violent leftist insurgents Mujib declared a state of emergency and later assumed the presidency, after the Awami League dominated parliament decided to switch from parliamentary to a presidential form of government. Sheikh Mujib renamed the League the Bangladesh Krishak Sramik Awami League, and banned all other parties. The consequences lead to a critical political state. BAKSAL was dissolved after the assassination of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. The move towards a secular form of government caused widespread dissatisfaction among many low ranking military personnel, most of whom received training from Pakistan army. On 15 August 1975 during the time of K M Shafiullah as a Head of the Army Stuffs. some junior members of the armed forces in Dhaka, led by Major Faruk Rahman and Major Rashid, murdered Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and all his family members, including his wife and minor son. Within months, on 3 November 1975, four more of its top leaders, Syed Nazrul Islam, Tajuddin Ahmed, Captain Muhammad Mansur Ali and A. H. M. Qamaruzzaman were killed inside the Dhaka Central Jail as they were on behalf of BAKSAL. Only Sheikh Hasina and Sheikh Rehana, two daughters of Mujib, survived the massacre as they were in West Germany as a part of a cultural exchange program. They later claimed political asylum in the United Kingdom. Sheikh Rehana, the younger sister, chose to remain in the UK permanently, while Sheikh Hasina moved to India and lived in self imposed exile. Her stays abroad helped her gain important political friends in the West and in India that proved to be a valuable asset for the party in the future.

After 1975, the party remained split into several rival factions and fared poorly in the 1979 parliamentary elections held under a military government. In 1981 Sheikh Hasina returned as Ziaur Rahman allowed her to return after the largest party faction, the Awami League elected her its president, and she proceeded to take over the party leadership and unite the factions. As she was under age at the time she could not take part in the 1981 presidential elections that followed the assassination of President Ziaur Rahman. Throughout the following nine years of military rule by General Hussain Muhammad Ershad the Awami League participated in some polls but boycotted most as Ershad did not believe in democracy. On 7 May 1986, Awami League participated in the general election of Bangladesh staged by military ruler Lt Gen Hussain Muhammad Ershad even though the other major political party and the winner of previous elections Bangladesh Nationalist Party boycotted. British observers including a journalists termed the elections a "tragedy for democracy" and a "cynically frustrated exercise". The Awami League emerged as the largest opposition party in parliament in the elections in 1991, in which Khaleda Zia became the first female prime minister. AL's second term in office had mixed achievements. Apart from sustaining economic stability during the Asian economic crisis, the government successfully settled Bangladesh's long standing dispute with India over sharing the water of the river Ganges (also known as Padma) in late 1996, and signed a peace treaty with tribal rebels in 1997. In 1998, Bangladesh faced one of the worst floods ever, and the government handled the crisis satisfactorily. It also had significant achievements in containing inflation, and peacefully neutralising a long running leftist insurgency in south western districts dating back to the first AL government's time. However, rampant corruption allegations against party office bearers and ministers as well as a deteriorating law and order situation troubled the government. Its pro poor policies achieved wide microeconomic development but that left the country's wealthy business class dissatisfied. The AL's last months in office were marred by sporadic bombing by alleged Islamist militants. Hasina herself escaped several attempts on her life, in one of which two anti tank mines were planted under her helipad in Gopalganj district. In July 2001, the second AL government stepped down, becoming the first elected government in Bangladesh to serve a full term in office. The party won only 62 out of 300 parliamentary seats in the elections held in October 2001, despite winning 40% of the votes, up from 36% in 1996 and 33% in 1991. The BNP and its allies won a two thirds majority in parliament with 46% of the votes cast, with BNP alone winning 41%, up from 33% in 1996 and 30% in 1991. In its second term in opposition since 1991, the party suffered the assassination of several key members. Popular young leader Ahsanullah Master, a member of parliament from Gazipur, was killed in 2004. This was followed by a grenade attack on Hasina during a public meeting on 21 August 2004, resulting in the death of 22 party supporters, including party women's secretary Ivy Rahman, though Hasina lived. Finally, the party's electoral secretary, ex finance minister, and veteran diplomat Shah M S Kibria, a member of parliament from Habiganj, was killed in a grenade attack in Sylhet later that year. In June 2005, the Awami League won an important victory when the AL nominated incumbent mayor A. B. M. Mohiuddin Chowdhury won the important mayoral election in Chittagong, by a huge margin, against BNP nominee State Minister of Aviation Mir Mohammad Nasiruddin. This election was seen as a showdown between the Awami League and the BNP. However, the killing of party leaders continued. In December 2005, the AL supported Mayor of Sylhet narrowly escaped the third attempt on his life as a grenade thrown at him failed to explode. In September 2006, several of the party's top leaders, including Saber Hossain Chowdhury MP and Asaduzzaman Nur MP, were hospitalised after being critically injured by police beatings while they demonstrated in support of electoral law reforms. Starting in late October 2006, the Awami League led alliance carried out a series of nationwide demonstrations and blockades centring on the selection of the leader of the interim caretaker administration to oversee the 2007 elections. Although an election was scheduled to take place on 22 January 2007 that the Awami League decided to boycott, the country's military intervened on 11 January 2007 and installed an interim government composed of retired bureaucrats and military officers. Throughout 2007 and 2008, the military backed government tried to root out corruption and remove Sheikh Hasina and Khaleda Zia of the AL and BNP respectively. While these efforts largely failed, they succeeded in producing a credible voter list that was used on 29 December 2008 national election. The Awami League won the national election held on 29 December 2008 as part of a larger electoral alliance that also included the Jatiya Party led by former military ruler General Hussain Muhammad Ershad as well as some leftist parties. According to the Official Results, Bangladesh Awami League won 230 out of 299 constituencies, and together with its allies, had a total of 262 parliamentary seats. The Awami League and its allies received 57% of the total votes cast. The AL alone got 48%, compared to 36% of the other major alliance led by the BNP which by itself got 33% of the votes. Sheikh Hasina, as party head, became the new Prime Minister. Her term of office began in January 2009. The current cabinet has several new faces, including three women in prominent positions: Dr Dipu Moni (Foreign Minister), Matia Chowdhury (Agriculture Minister) and Sahara Khatun (Home Minister). Younger MPs with a link to assassinated members of the 1972–1975 AL government are Sayed Ashraful Islam, son of Syed Nazrul Islam, Sheikh Fazle Noor Taposh, son of Sheikh Fazlul Huq Moni, and Sohel Taj, son of Tajuddin Ahmad. Since 2009, the Awami League government faced several major political challenges, including BDR (Bangladesh Rifles) mutiny, power crisis, unrest in garments industry and stock market fluctuations. Judicial achievements for the party included restoring original 1972 constitution, returning secularism to the constitution, beginning of war crimes trials, and guilty verdict in 1975 assassination trial. According to the Nielsen 2 year survey, 50% felt the country was moving in the right direction, and 36% gave the government a favourable rating. In the 2014 election the Awami League led alliance won a second term of which 154 Members (out of 300) of Parliament were selected where there were no election Only 5% voter attended in the polling station and cast their votes. The opposition and one of the most popular parties (BNP) boycotted the election for removing the caretaker government (neutral government) system from the constitution after completion of 5 years tenure. With 21 people dead due to the violence during election, along with further human rights abuses and an absence of opposition, this was one of the controversial general elections in Bangladesh's history. This election was further tainted by arrests where dozens of opposition leaders and members were taken into custody.

The All Pakistan Awami Muslim League or the East Pakistan Awami Muslim League was formed as a breakaway faction of the "All Pakistan Muslim League" in 1949, within two years of the formation of Pakistan. The word Muslim was dropped in 1953 and it became the secular Awami League. During the Bangladesh Liberation War of 1971, most of the Awami League members joined the Provisional Government of Bangladesh and Mukti Bahini guerrillas to fight against the Pakistani army and the name "Bangladesh Awami League" was eventually settled upon. The most common mascot and electoral symbol for the party has been the boat, which signified the attachment to rural Bengal. Traditionally the party had no consistent colour identity. After the 1991 election, the colour green became associated with Awami League, while blue has become the identifying colour for rival nationalist party. The salutation "Joy Bangla" (; meaning Victory to Bengal or "Long live Bengal") is the official slogan of the Awami League. It was the slogan and war cry of the Mukti Bahini that fought for the independence of Bangladesh during the Bangladesh Liberation War in 1971. The phrase "Joy Bangla, Joy Bangabandhu" is used by the party members at the end of speeches and communications pertaining to or referring to patriotism towards Bangladesh and Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib. The Awami League party flag is a green field with four five rayed red star at its centre, and a vertical red stripe at the hoist side. The flag also bears some resemblance to the flag of Pakistan, showing the ex Pakistani origin of the Awami League. The four stars on the Flag represent the four fundamental principles of the party: nationalism, secularism, socialism, and democracy.

The ideology of Awami League has been evolved through political and socio economic landscape of the country since its creation. The current ideology of the party, as stated in its constitution, and in two cases defines the reason for, comprise four fundamental principles in guiding its philosophy and policies. They include: democracy, socialism, secularism and nationalism. The origins of these principles can be traced to Sheikh Mujibur Rahman's political thought. However it is doubted how much current Awami League follows its fundamental principles.

Previously the party advocated for a socialist economy with democratic socialism. Inspiring from Soviet and Indian economic models, Awami League under Sheikh Mujibur Rahman implemented an economic system based on strict protectionism, state intervention and economic regulation under a planned economy and limited market activities, which was characterized as "neither capitalist nor socialist" in nature. Since Sheikh Hasina became the leader of Awami League in 1981, the party begun espousing more economically liberal positions, and has moved closer to the centre of the political spectrum. In 1991, AL president and Prime Minister of Bangladesh Sheikh Hasina noted that socialism was a failed system.

Before the 2008 general elections in Bangladesh, the Awami League announced in its manifesto, its "Vision 2021" and "Digital Bangladesh" action plans to transform Bangladesh into a fast developing middle income country by 2021. The policy was criticized as a policy emblematic of technological optimism in the context of Bangladesh and the state repression of media, low internet penetration, inadequate electricity generation. Prior to the 2024 Bangladeshi general election, Awami League announced Smart Bangladesh initiative associated with the Bangladesh Vision 2041 framework in its manifesto, a national strategic plan aiming to further develop the socio economic standings of Bangladesh by transforming the country into a technologically advanced and sustainable society with low income inequality and high standard of living.

In 2011, Awami League government passed the 15th amendment to the Constitution of Bangladesh wherein Article 18A was added which endeavours to protect and improve environment. Awami League under Sheikh Hasina also promised to protect the country's environment in its manifesto for the 2024 election. Her government also adopted the Bangladesh Delta Plan 2100, an "adaptation based technical and economic master plan, which has considered the effects of water resources management, land use, environment, and climate change, and its interaction on the development results". Sheikh Hasina's government has been praised for combating natural calamities, greening her country and promoting international consciousness regarding climate change.

During the premiership of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman between 1972 and 1975, Rahman's personal influence in the country's foreign policy was instrumental. After Awami League formed government under Hasina in 1996, her government adopted an India oriented foreign policy. This continued since 2009, when she secured power for the second time. In 2015, Hasina signed a historic land exchange agreement with Indian PM Narendra Modi which resolved the decade long India–Bangladesh enclaves problem. Awami League continued good relationship with China. "Hasina has adroitly balanced ties with both India and China". Sheikh Hasina government allowed Rohingyas to take refuge in Bangladesh, for which she received credit and praise in home and abroad. Awami League continues to support Palestinian cause. In 1972, Awami League government officially rejected the Israeli recognition of Bangladesh. In 2014, Sheikh Hasina said, "We have been continuing our support to the Palestinians and occupation of their land by the Israelis is never acceptable".

Awami League has been described as authoritarian by various national and international observers. despite the protests of opposition parties, including the BNP. Since the 2014, the freedom of the press in Bangladesh has declined dramatically. Awami League government targeted and detained many leading newspapers, television channels and pro opposition journalists. According to Ali Riaz, "Awami League has established total control over state machinery and politics" since 2018. This followed a prior violent crackdown on those that criticised the party in 2018. The general elections of 2014 and 2018 was criticized by the United States and the European Union for irregularities.

Jatiya Rakkhi Bahini, dissoluted armed wing of Awami League, formed under the supervision of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and active from 1972 to 1975, became involved in numerous charges of political killings, shooting by death squads, and rape. Human Rights Watch states that institutionalized violence committed by the Jatiya Rakkhi Bahini, established the culture of impunity and widespread prevalence of abuses by security forces in independent Bangladesh.

In recent years, despite party's official and historical position for secularism, Awami League has been surprisingly silent numerous times regarding freedom of religion in the country. Prime Minister of Bangladesh Sheikh Hasina's Awami League government retained Islam as the state religion and promoted Islam many times in home and abroad. It has been accused of remaining silent "on the spate of killings of bloggers, secularists, atheists, teachers, free thinkers and activists" that have taken place in the country while it has been in government.

It was reported in 2017 that the party in government has been cracking down on the LGBT community. This has included the arrests of those accused of being homosexual. However, during 2024 Bangladesh textbook tearing controversy, where a varsity teacher Asif Mahtab Utsha ripped a textbook alleging of promoting transgender concepts, almost a vise versa claim was made by the critiques of the party that they found out that the Awami Regime and NCTB took swift actions against Asif's homophobic behaviors displayed at online.

Awami League has been accused for promoting "political nationalism", a form of radical nationalism. This form of nationalism emphasizes on "exclusion based on political identity" over other factors, although it is "more inclined to accept religious diversity, cultural differences, and racial diversity within a state, but cannot accept political differences in ideology or party support". The party always styles itself as the "proliberation force" and positions itself as the "sole custodian" of the spirit of Liberation War, while diminishing the opposition's contributions to the Liberation War; which has been described as an attempt to delegitimize the opposition in the context of electoral politics. Critiques argue that this type of self proclaimed interpretation of Bangladesh Liberation War results in an illiberal socio political landscape in the country that marginalizes the opposition.

The Constitution of the Bangladesh Awami League has 24 Articles and includes contents of General Program, Membership, Organization System, Central Organizations, Name, Aims and Objectives, Fundamental Principles, Commitments. In accordance with the changing situation and tasks, revisions were made in some of the articles at the National Conference.

Almost 38 Advisory Council members working as party's think tank and are not Part of the Central Working Committee The Awami League Advisory Council is the highest governing of Bangladesh Awami League.

ElectionParty leaderVotes%Seats +/–PositionGovernment1973Sheikh Mujibur Rahman 13,798,717 73.20%New 1st1979Asaduzzaman Khan 4,734,277 24.56% 254 2nd1986Sheikh Hasina 7,462,157 26.16% 37 2nd1988Boycotted 761991 10,259,866 30.08% 88 2ndFeb 1996Boycotted 88Jun 1996 15,882,792 37.44% 146 1st2001 22,365,516 40.13% 84 2nd2008 33,634,629 48.04% 168 1st2014 12,357,374 72.14% 4 1st2018 63,523,066 74.63% 23 1st2024 xx,xxx,xxx xx. xx% 35 1st