Hasina to be a writer after ban on politics

BANGLADESH: Bangladesh’s main opposition leader Sheikh Hasina Wajed said she would spend her time writing now that the country’s interim government has banned all political activities.

Hasina, who served as Bangladesh prime minister between 1996-2001, leads the Awami League party which heads a coalition of 19 opposition parties.

“Now politics are banned, I will pass my time writing and completing my unfinished writings,” said Hasina, according to her spokesman Abul Kalam Azad on Saturday.

Hasina’s announcement came after the military-backed interim government imposed a complete ban earlier this week on all political activities including meetings, rallies and “indoor politics” and warned any violators of stern punishment.

The order was the latest tough move by the government which has also launched an anti-graft drive in a bid to clean up politics and hold fair elections.

It took power in January after scheduled polls were cancelled and emergency rule imposed amid violent street protests between feuding political parties.

The head of the army, Lieutenant General Moeen U Ahmed, has said that the caretaker government must push through reforms to strengthen democracy before a fresh date for elections can be contemplated. Has already written at least 17 books, mostly collections of essays on politics and memoirs of her father.

Dhaka, Sunday, AFP