Dhaka, Nov 11 (IANS) With elections approaching in Bangladesh, the Chief Advisor to the interim government, Muhammad Yunus, is struggling to keep the country of 170 million people united, a report detailed on Tuesday.

It added that sectarian violence has become commonplace amid concerns over a surge in radical Islamism, while the Awami League alleged that several of its members have been killed.

“And Yunus himself is facing accusations of abusing power and of lawfare after his government banned the Awami League from elections set to be held in February, blaming it for a ‘co-ordinated violent activity’ during the deadly protests last year,” a report in The Irish Times detailed.

According to the report, one of the interim government’s first actions was to appoint Mohammad Tajul Islam as chief prosecutor to the country’s International Crimes Tribunal, tasked with holding those responsible for the killings accountable.

“In January, he brought charges against Hasina and 11 others in her regime relating to enforced disappearances and extrajudicial killings that happened during her rule. Then in July, a tribunal formally charged her with alleged crimes against humanity related to the Monsoon Revolution. Her trial in absentia ended last month, and a verdict is expected next week,” it mentioned.

In a written statement, Hasina described the proceedings against her as “a politically motivated charade”, which “have been brought by kangaroo courts”.

At the same time, the report said, the students and other political groups intensified pressure on the interim government to remove the Awami League from politics completely.

“In May, it finally obliged by ordering a ‘temporary’ ban of the party from political activity, citing ‘national security’ concerns. However, rather than going through the courts to curtail Hasina’s party, the Yunus administration issued an executive order, based on a recent amendment to the country’s Anti-terrorism Act,” it added.

Meanwhile, the report noted that several Awami League members accused Yunus of pursuing political vendettas.

Mohammad Arafat, a senior member of the Awami League, alleged that “Yunus is clearly dividing the nation and proceeding with a sham election” and is “making a peaceful democratic transition nearly impossible”.

Bangladesh has also filed charges against members of Hasina’s family, including her niece Tulip Siddiq, a British politician, and her daughter Saima Wazed. Siddiq termed the charges as “untrue and politically motivated”, while Hasina’s son, Sajeeb Wazed, denounced the broader allegations against the family as “completely false, baseless, fabricated and motivated by ulterior political agendas of the Yunus regime”.

“In the halls of Jamuna House, the temporary government residence of Yunus in central Dhaka, there is a sense of pride only tamed by the frustration and exhaustion of himself and his team as the country faces what promises to be a tense electoral period,” the report noted.

–IANS

scor/as