Hasnat Abdullah, the southern organizer of the Jatiya Nagorik Party, has alleged that efforts are underway to bring back the ousted Awami League in Bangladesh under a rebranded form called the "Refined Awami League." According to Hasnat, this plan involves political figures like former minister Saber Hossain Chowdhury, former speaker Shirin Sharmin Chowdhury, and former Dhaka South City Corporation mayor Sheikh Fazle Noor Taposh.
In a Facebook post made late Thursday night, Hasnat claimed that they were pressured by the army to accept this "Refined Awami League" concept. His post stirred intense political debate, prompting Sarjis Alam, the party’s northern organizer, to clarify his stance.
On Sunday, Sarjis posted his perspective in a Facebook status titled "Some Corrections, Additions, and Subtractions from My Position Regarding the Meeting with the Army Chief on March 11." He acknowledged attending the meeting with Hasnat but disagreed with Hasnat’s interpretation of events. According to Sarjis, they were not officially summoned to the cantonment but had arranged the meeting through the Army Chief's military advisor.
Sarjis clarified that the discussion was not a direct proposal but rather an expression of opinion about the necessity of a "Refined Awami League" for the country's political stability. He emphasized that while the topic was discussed, it was not presented as an enforced plan. Sarjis also addressed a statement from the meeting where the Army Chief reportedly told them, "You people know nothing. You lack wisdom and experience. We have been in this service for at least forty years." While Hasnat perceived this as a harsh response, Sarjis felt it was more of a senior figure expressing his experience rather than an angry remark.
Sarjis distanced himself from the slogan "Hasnat Na Waqar" and denied the claim that their party had called for the Army Chief’s resignation. He stressed the importance of maintaining trust in political discussions rather than disclosing sensitive matters publicly.
Earlier, in his own Facebook post, Hasnat described the meeting in stronger terms, calling it an attempt to impose a new political strategy favoring Awami League. He alleged that they were offered a seat-sharing agreement in exchange for accepting this plan. Hasnat claimed that several political parties had already agreed to this arrangement, where a "Refined Awami League" would publicly acknowledge past mistakes, denounce Sheikh Hasina, and commit to forming a new version of Bangabandhu’s Awami League by April-May.
Rejecting this proposal outright, Hasnat asserted that they insisted on prosecuting Awami League instead of rehabilitating it. He claimed that their refusal was met with warnings that any resistance to Awami League’s return would make them responsible for any resulting national crisis.
Hasnat declared that he would not succumb to pressure from military or external forces, just as he had resisted during the July movement. He called on the public to stand against what he described as an "Indian-backed conspiracy" to bring Awami League back to power. He vowed that as long as he and his supporters had blood in their veins, they would ensure that Awami League was permanently banned from Bangladeshi politics.
