Shaken by the Reuters interview of an isolated and humiliated president, Mohammed Shahabuddin, the non-stop protest programmes of the Awami League against the February 12 election and the assassination attempt on mob leader Sharif Osman Hadi, the Jamaat-controlled Yunus-led interim administration has announced the launch of the second phase of the deadly Operation Devil Hunt.
First launched on February 8, this crackdown by joint forces is aimed at arresting the leaders and activists of the Awami League. Still, it is officially meant for curbing unrest and ensuring public safety.
The Yunus regime started the operation following a mob attack on the home of former Liberation War Affairs Minister AKM Mozammel Haque in Gazipur on February 7, during which several people, including mob leader Hasnat Abdullah, were injured and property was damaged.
In the first 14 days of the nationwide crackdown, the joint forces arrested at least 21,375 people and showed them arrested in cases related to the July violence and other crimes.
Local and international organisations have condemned the mindless crackdown, which involved torture of arrestees in custody, sending them to jail in false and fictitious cases, and denial of bail.
After Yunus captured power in August last year, over 700 Awami League leaders, activists, and supporters have been killed in mob attacks, and 100 died in police custody and prisons, and the party top brass, including five-time prime minister Sheikh Hasina, faced the severest punishments in the kangaroo courts. Yet, the party supporters did not stop demanding the resignation of the Yunus-led administration.
Moreover, Sheikh Hasina and her son, Sajeeb Wazed Joy, are giving interviews in international media, exposing the regimeโs misdeeds and demanding fresh elections under a caretaker government.
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The Awami League has rejected the Election Commissionโs schedule, as the temporary ban on the partyโs political programmes has not been lifted. Within two hours of the poll’s announcement, Reuters published the bombshell interview of President Shahabuddin, where he said that he wants to step down halfway through his term.
He said that this decision stems from a deepening sense of sidelining by the Yunus-led regime, which he describes as having eroded his dignity and authority through deliberate acts of exclusion.
Despite his positionโs constitutional weight, Shahabuddin, commander-in-chief of the armed forces, notes that Yunus has not met him for nearly seven months, his press department was stripped away, and in September, his portraits were abruptly removed from Bangladeshi embassies, consulates, and high commissions worldwide. This overnight elimination sent a chilling message, implying his own impending removal and fueling perceptions of instability.
The removal of the portraits, executed without consultation, amplified his isolation on the global stage. Shahabuddin formally raised this with Yunus, but no corrective action followed. In a personal letter to Foreign Adviser Md. Touhid Hossain, dated September 28, 2025, he conveyed shock and surprise at the incident, questioning why strategic measures were not taken to avoid disgracing the sitting president.
Now that the Yunus regime is starting a fresh crackdown, two months ahead of the elections, with the armed forces enjoying magistracy power, political observers are calling for the withdrawal of the ban on the Awami League.
Why Now?
On Saturday, Home Affairs Adviser Lt. Gen. (Retd.) Md. Jahangir Alam Chowdhury announced a reward of Tk50 lakh for the arrest of the attackers of Inqilab Moncho spokesperson and independent candidate for the Dhaka-8 constituency, Sharif Osman Hadi.
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He also declared that Operation Devil Huntโs second phase will start immediately to further strengthen and accelerate operations to recover looted and illegal weapons and to suppress โfascist terrorists,โ largely meant for the people associated with the Awami League.
Terming the attack on Osman Hadi an attempt to disrupt the upcoming National Assembly elections, the adviser said that the interim government will suppress any attempt to sabotage the elections with a strict hand. The government is determined to ensure the safety of the frontline fighters of the July Uprising, and special security measures have been taken for this purpose. A committee has been formed for this purpose.
On Friday, Sajeeb Wazed Joy said the upcoming general elections will be โtotally rigged.โ It is a โcomplete mockery of democracy,โ he said in a scathing exclusive interview with News18.
He said: โThis is going to be a rigged election, with the largest political party and the third-largest party banned from contesting. Not only the Awami League, but also parties such as the Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal and the Workers Party have been barred.โ
He vowed resistance, stating that Awami League supporters have already launched small protest marches, with plans for larger demonstrations. โWe will fight this politically,โ Wazed said.
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