Bangladesh Students’ League urges neutral administration for inclusive 2026 elections

Dhaka: The Bangladesh Students’ League (BSL), the student wing of the Awami League Party, has appealed to the international community to play a constructive role in ensuring that Bangladesh’s next general election, scheduled for February 12, 2026, is conducted in a free, fair, and inclusive manner under a neutral government, describing it as the only path to stability and democracy in the country.

It also expressed outrage over what it called an ongoing campaign of “state-sponsored violence, terror and repression”.

Slamming the Muhammad Yunus-led interim government, the student organisation alleged that under the “mobocracy” imposed by the “illegitimate and unconstitutional fascist” Yunus regime, Bangladesh is rapidly descending into disorder and anarchy amid the rise of extremism and the collapse of law and order.

“Over recent days, Bangladesh has witnessed an unprecedented escalation of mob violence, arson, coordinated attacks, enforced disappearances, and brutal killings. These are not isolated or spontaneous incidents. They are the direct outcome of a meticulously engineered campaign of riots and mayhem during July–August 2024 that overthrew a constitutionally mandated, democratically elected government led by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and the Bangladesh Awami League,” read a statement issued by the BSL.

The student organisation said in the aftermath of the fall of the Hasina-led Awami League government, what followed was the systematic replacement of constitutional governance with mob rule—”organised violence, fear and impunity.”

“Coordinated assaults on media institutions, cultural organisations, minority communities, political parties, and historic national symbols demonstrate that Bangladesh is no longer under lawful governance. The country is being deliberately pushed toward managed chaos, state failure, and authoritarian rule sustained by fear,” it stated.

Condemning the arson attacks on the offices of Bangladesh’s leading newspapers, Prothom Alo and The Daily Star, the BSL said it represented a direct fascist assault on press freedom.

“ Particularly grave was the attempt to burn The Daily Star building while staff members were trapped inside—an act amounting to attempted murder. The harassment of New Age editor Nurul Kabir further confirms that journalists and independent voices are being systematically targeted,” it added.

The most chilling crime, the student organisation said, occurred in Bhaluka upazila in Mymensingh district, where Hindu youth Dipu Chandra Das was tied to a tree, beaten to death under a false “blasphemy” allegation, and his body burned.

“With no investigation or due process, this atrocity exposes total state failure and constitutes a grave human-rights violation,” it stated.

The BSL also raised alarm over repeated attacks on Indian diplomatic missions in Dhaka, Chattogram, Rajshahi, and Khulna, including stone-pelting and the arson of the Indira Gandhi Cultural Centre on August 5, 2024, followed by renewed threats in December this year.

“These acts constitute grave violations of the 1961 Vienna Convention and reflect the regime’s encouragement of mob violence as a tool of foreign policy,” it stressed.

The student organisation alleged that the Yunus regime has carried out mass arrests of Awami League leaders and activists while openly “patronising extremist groups—completely dismantling the rule of law”.

IANS