Awami League: Difference between revisions

{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2020}}

{{Infobox political party

| general_secretary = [[Obaidul Quader]]

}}

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]].<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Riaz|first=Ali|date=2020-09-21|title=The pathway of democratic backsliding in Bangladesh|url=https://doi.org/10.1080/13510347.2020.1818069|journal=Democratization|volume=28|pages=179–197|doi=10.1080/13510347.2020.1818069|s2cid=224958514|issn=1351-0347|access-date=24 September 2020|archive-date=28 December 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201228012022/https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/13510347.2020.1818069|url-status=live}}</ref>

In 1948, there was rising agitation in East Bengal against the omission of [[Bengali alphabet|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 language|Bengali]] be declared an official language in Pakistan. The leaders included [[A. K. Fazlul Huq]], the former Prime Minister of undivided Bengal.<ref name=helal263>{{cite book |last=Al Helal |first=Bashir |author-link=Bashir Al Helal |date=2003 |title=Bhasa Andolaner Itihas |trans-title=History of the Language Movement |language=bn |location=Dhaka |publisher=[[Agamee Prakashani]] |pages=263–265 |isbn=978-984-401-523-4}}</ref> 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.<ref name=uddin>{{Cite book |last=Uddin |first=Sufia M. |year=2006 |title=Constructing Bangladesh: Religion, Ethnicity, and Language in an Islamic Nation |publisher=The University of North Carolina Press |pages=1–4 |isbn=0-8078-3021-6}}</ref> 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.<ref>[[Muhammad Shahidullah]], The Azad, 29 July 1947</ref> 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 [[Arabic script|Persian-Arabic script]] was [[Bengali language|Bengali]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=DeRouen, Jr. |first1=Karl |last2=Heo |first2=Uk |date=2007 |title=Civil Wars of the World: Major Conflicts Since World War II |publisher=ABC-CLIO |location=Santa Barbara, Calif. |page=594 |isbn=978-1-85109-919-1}}</ref> 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.

[[File:Rally on 21Feb1954 Abdul Hamid and Bangabandhu.jpg|thumb|Moulana Abdul Hamid Khan Bhashani and Sheikh Mujibur Rahman marching barefoot to pay their tributes on [[Bengali language movement|Language Movement]] Day of 1953]]

[[File:Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Announcing 6 Points At Lahore.jpg|thumb|Rahman announcing the [[6 Point Movement|Six Points]] in [[Lahore]], 1966]]

[[File:Amzad with Bangabandhu.jpg|thumb|Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and Awami League members campaigning in [[East Pakistan]] before the 1970 general election]]

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.<ref>{{cite news |title=BNP demands immediate elections |url=http://www.thefinancialexpress-bd.com/2014/02/14/18927 |newspaper=The Financial Express |location=Dhaka |date=14 February 2014 |access-date=16 February 2014 |archive-date=28 December 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201228012012/https://thefinancialexpress.com.bd/ |url-status=live }}</ref> Food shortages were also a major concern of the Awami League. War had damaged all forms of farming. The party aligned itself with [[Non-Aligned Movement|NAM]], and leaned towards the Soviet bloc. The party was accused of corruption by supporters of Pakistan. In 1974 Bangladesh suffered a [[Bangladesh famine of 1974|famine]]: 70,000 people died, and support for Mujib declined. Bangladesh continued exporting [[jute]] to Cuba, violating US economic sanctions, the [[Richard Nixon|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.

===Struggle for democracy and Hasina era (1981–present)===

==Organization==

===Constitution===

* 29 Secretaries of the Sub Committee;

{{columns-list|colwidth=20em|

# Finance and planning secretary

# Religious Affairs secretary

# Press and Publications secretary

# Women Affairs secretary

# Labour and Manpower secretary

# Cultural Affairs secretary

# Deputy Office-secretary

# Deputy Press-secretary}}

and

===Advisory Council===

{|class="wikitable sortable"

|-

|-

|[[Abdul Hamid Khan Bhashani]]

|}

{|class="wikitable"

|-

| 1971–1972

|[[Acting President]] during the Bangladesh Liberation War.<ref>{{cite book|author1=Jivanta Schottli|author2=Subrata K. Mitra|author3=Siegried Wolf|title=A Political and Economic Dictionary of South Asia|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7uIjCQAAQBAJ&pg=PA187|year=2015|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-135-35576-0|page=187|access-date=14 January 2020|archive-date=28 December 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201228012116/https://books.google.com/books?id=7uIjCQAAQBAJ&pg=PA187|url-status=live}}</ref>

|}

==Electoral history==

'''Jatiya Sangsad elections'''

{| class=wikitable style=text-align:center

[[Category:Bangladesh Awami League| ]]

[[Category:1949 establishments in Pakistan]]

[[Category:Political parties established in 1949]]

[[Category:Political parties in Bangladesh]]

[[Category:Politics of Bangladesh]]

[[Category:Secularist organizations]]