DHAKA: 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 on Tuesday.

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.

According to the United Nations, up to 1,400 protesters died in July-August 2024, when Hasina’s government launched a brutal campaign to silence the opposition.

Hasina, 77, remains in self-imposed exile in India and has defied an arrest warrant from Dhaka over charges of crimes against humanity. “The ban on the Awami League is a concerning development,” Indian foreign ministry spokesman Randhir Jaiswal told reporters in New Delhi.

“We strongly support the holding of free, fair and inclusive elections in Bangladesh.”

Akhtar Ahmed, senior secretary of the Bangladesh Election Commission, said the suspension followed a recommendation from the home ministry.

“The home ministry has imposed a ban on all sorts of organisational activities of the Bangladesh Awami League and the organisations aligned with it,” he told reporters.

“In continuation of that decision, the election commission has decided to suspend the AL’s registration with the commission.” Yunus, 84, has said parliamentary elections will be held as early as December, and by June 2026 at the latest.

Published in Dawn, May 14th, 2025