THE HISTORY OF AWAMI LEAGUE

                            BISMILLAH-HI-RAHMAN-NI-RAHIM

THE HISTORY OF AWAMI LEAGUE :

The Bangladesh Awami League translated from Urdu: Bangladesh People's League), commonly known as the Awami League, is one of the two main political parties of Bangladesh. It is also currently the governing party after winning the 2008 Parliamentary elections in Bangladesh.

The Awami League was founded in Dhaka, the former capital of the Pakistani province of East Bengal, in 1949 by Bengali nationalists Maulana Abdul Hamid Khan Bhashani,Shamsul Huq, and later Huseyn Shaheed Suhrawardy who went on to become Prime Minister of Pakistan. The Awami League was established as the Bengali alternative to the domination of the Muslim League in Pakistan and over centralization of the government . The party quickly gained massive popular support in East Bengal, later named East Pakistan, and eventually led the forces of Bengali nationalism in the struggle against West Pakistan's military and political establishment. The party under the leadership of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the founding father of Bangladesh, would lead the struggle for independence, first through massive populist and civil disobedience movements, such as the Six Point Movement and 1971 Non-Cooperation Movement, and then during the Bangladesh Liberation War. After the emergence of independent Bangladesh, the Awami League would win the first general elections in 1973 but was overthrown in 1975 after the assassination of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. The party was forced by subsequent military regimes into political wilderness and many of its senior leaders and activists were executed and jailed. After the restoration of democracy in 1990, the Awami League emerged as one of the principal players of Bangladeshi politics.

Amongst the leaders of the Awami League, five have become the President of Bangladesh, four have become the Prime Minister of Bangladesh and one became the Prime Minister of Pakistan. Since the independence of Bangladesh, the party has been under the control of the family of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. His daughter and also the incumbent Prime Minister of Bangladesh, Sheikh Hasina, has been heading the party since 1981. The student wing of the party is the Bangladesh Chhatra League.

The Bangladesh Awami League styles itself as the leader of the "pro-liberation" forces in Bangladesh, promoting secular and social democratic sections of the political establishment in the country which played the leading role during the Bangladesh Liberation War in 1971. The party constitution states, and in two cases defines the reason for, four fundamental principles in guiding its philosophy and policies. They include-Ideology

Democracy, Republican system with representation of people

Socialism, Establishing an exploitation-free society and social justice

Secularism, Non-communal politics and separation of religion and public life

Bengali nationalism, Protection of Bangladesh's identity as a Nation state for Bengali people

The four principles are similar to those of the original Four State Principles in Bangladesh's constitution which included nationalism, secularism, democracy and socialism.

Prior to the 2008 general elections in Bangladesh, the Awami League announced in its manifesto, its "Vision 2021" and "Digital Bangladesh" action plans to transform Bangladesh into a fast developing Middle Income Country by 2021 The party also uses the term "Shonar Bangla", or golden Bengal, to describe its vision for Bangladesh to become a modern developed nation. The term is reminiscent of Bangladesh's national anthem and a Utopian vision in Bengali nationalism.