B’desh: Pro-Awami League lawyers face obstruction ahead of Chattogram bar association polls
Dhaka, May 5 (IANS) As the crackdown on pro-Awami League lawyers intensifies across Bangladesh, several have accused Bangladesh Nationalist Party-backed lawyers of obstruction and assault while attempting to collect nomination papers for the upcoming Chattogram District Bar Association (CDBA) election, local media reported.
The incident unfolded on Monday afternoon at the Bar Library entrance in the Bar Association when a group of lawyers, led by pro-Awami League presidential candidate Abdur Rashid, went to collect nomination forms under the banner of “Sadharan Ainjibi Parishad”.
Citing eyewitnesses, Bangladesh’s leading newspaper, The Daily Star, reported that the group was obstructed by pro-BNP lawyers.
Amid escalating tensions, members of the Bar election commission reportedly closed the library doors, prompting the pro-Awami League lawyers to stage a protest on the spot.
“We were not allowed to enter the Bar Library while attempting to collect nomination papers. They did not allow us to contest in the last election either,” The Daily Star quoted Fakhruddin Jabed, a contender for the general secretary post from the pro-Awami League panel, as saying.
Highlighting that the Awami League’s activities are banned through order, Kamrul Islam Chowdhury, member secretary of the Jatiyatabadi Ainjibi Forum’s Chattogram unit, said, “In this situation, there is neither the environment nor the opportunity for Awami League-affiliated lawyers to participate in the election.”
The CDBA executive committee polls are scheduled to take place on May 21 at the Bar Association auditorium.
Earlier, pro-Awami League lawyers were unable to contest the Dhaka Bar Association election for the 2026-2027 term, held on April 29 and 30.
Reports suggest that a similar situation was witnessed in the Barishal and Manikganj Bar association elections, held on April 3 and February 26, respectively, where pro-Awami League lawyers were not allowed to participate in the polls.
According to Golam Faruk, a pro-Awami League lawyer in Cumilla, although lawyers affiliated with the Awami League participated in the Cumilla Bar Association election, held on April 2, they were unable to campaign and faced threats from multiple quarters.
Meanwhile, the Bangladesh Supreme Court Bar Association’s (SCBA) rejection of the nomination papers of 42 lawyers out of 90 candidates for its May 13-14 elections, citing alleged links to the Awami League, has sparked international outrage and drawn criticism from the global community.
Additionally, the recent pattern of alleged discrimination against legal professionals and the cancellation of candidacies of pro-Awami League lawyers in bar association polls across several districts in the country solely on the basis of political ideology has further raised serious concerns over the fairness of the electoral process.
–IANS
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