The Awami League has announced protests in Bangladesh, demanding the resignation of the interim government led by Prof. Muhammad Yunus. The protests, which the opposition party calls a response to "oppression and misrule," will start on 1 February. The campaign will reach its peak with a nationwide blockade and a full-day hartal on 16 and 18 February.

The party claimed that "human rights are being plundered" and that the "rule of law has collapsed" in a statement posted late Tuesday on its official Facebook page, accusing the current administration of eroding the nation's democracy and disregarding the principles of the 1971 Liberation War. The party led by Sheikh Hasina also demanded the expulsion of those it claimed were "sponsors of radical militancy." Chief Advisor Muhammad Yunus is described in the message as "a fascist" who "forcibly usurped Bangladesh." The Awami League stressed in its statement that the protests were a reaction to the current political situation, which it claims has caused the nation's democracy to be "exiled." 

“Yunus and his associates are burning in the fire of revenge today. Remove the sponsors of radical militancy and their associates and save Bangladesh. The country’s democracy is in exile today,” the statement, originally in Bengali, says. The protest campaign will begin with the distribution of leaflets from February 1 to 5, followed by rallies and marches on February 6 and 10 across the country. On February 16, a nationwide blockade will be held, and on February 18, a dawn-to-dusk general strike (hartal) will take place throughout Bangladesh. The party has also called for the withdrawal of charges against its leaders, including those related to the International Crimes Tribunal. It described the ongoing trials against Awami League members as “farcical.” The party leader, Sheikh Hasina, who fled Bangladesh after the Awami League was removed from power on August 5 last year, has been in India. In the release, she was referred to as the “Prime Minister.”

“The spirit and values of the Liberation War have been abandoned. The rule of law has collapsed. In this situation, at the call of the greatest Bengali of all time, the daughter of the Father of the Nation Bangabandhu, the Honourable Prime Minister and President of the Bangladesh Awami League, the people’s leader Sheikh Hasina, let us build a mass movement to restore democracy and re-establishing Bangladesh with the aspirations of the great Liberation War,” the statement reads. The party had originally planned large protests in November, but those plans were disrupted following clashes with the Students Against Discrimination. This group had played a key role in forcing Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s government to step down in Dhaka. After the violence, the interim government issued a statement saying that Hasina’s party would not be allowed to hold the rally.

In the statement, the Awami League made it clear that they would intensify the protests if the government tried to stop their events.“If any obstruction is made in these programmes to realise the political and democratic rights of the country’s people, more strict programmes will be announced,” it warned. This statement comes shortly after Mahfuz Anam, a key adviser to the interim government, announced that the Awami League would be barred from participating in future elections.

Speaking at a street rally in Chandpur district on January 25, Anam, a leading figure in the Anti-Discrimination Movement, stated that only "pro-Bangladesh groups" would be allowed to contest the elections. He also mentioned that the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) and Jamaat-e-Islami would be allowed to continue their political activities in the country. “One of these groups will establish future governance through a fair electoral process. However, the rehabilitation of the Awami League will not be allowed in this country,” Anam said.