BAKSAL

Bangladesh Krishak Sramik Awami League (BaKSAL) ( bn, বাংলাদেশ কৃষক শ্রমিক আওয়ামী লীগ "Bangladesh Worker-Peasant's People's League"; বাকশাল) was a political front comprising Bangladesh Awami League, Communist Party of Bangladesh, National Awami Party (Muzaffar) and Jatiyo League.

Following the Fourth Amendment to the Constitution of Bangladesh, enacted on 25 January 1975, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman formed BaKSAL on 24 February. In addition, with the presidential order, all other political parties were outlawed with the formation of BaKSAL.

The party advocated state socialism as a part of the group of reforms under the theory of the Second Revolution. BaKSAL was the decision-making council to achieve the objectives of the Second Revolution.

BaKSAL was dissolved after the assassination of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman in August 1975. With the end of BaKSAL, all the political parties who had merged with BaKSAL, including the Awami League, again became independent political parties.

Background

Sheikh Mujibur Rahman (aka Mujibur) and his Awami League won a landslide victory in the 1973 Bangladeshi general election. Backing for the government waned, however, as supporters became disillusioned by widespread corruption. In the face of growing unrest, on 28 December 1974 Mujibur declared a state of emergency, which gave him the power to ban any political group. He pushed the Fourth Amendment to the constitution through parliament on 25 January 1975. It dissolved all political parties and gave him the authority to institute one-party rule.

Formation

On 24 February 1975, Mujibur formed a new party, the Bangladesh Krishak Sramik Awami League (BaKSAL), which all MPs were required to join. Any MP who missed a parliamentary session, abstained, or failed to vote with the party would lose their seat. All civilian government employees, professionals, and trade union leaders were pressed to join the party. All other political organisations were banned. Most Awami League politicians and many from other parties joined BaKSAL, seeing no other way to retain any political power. The Jatiyo Samajtantrik Dal, Purba Banglar Sarbahara Party, Purbo Bangla Sammobadi Dal-Marxbadi-Leninbadi (East Bengal Communist Party Marxist–Leninist), East Pakistan Communist Party, and Bangladesh Communist Party (Leninist) did not join BaKSAL. According to political science professor Talukder Maniruzzaman, BaKSAL was in practice "the Awami League under a different name".

BaKSAL was scheduled to officially replace the nation's other political organisations, whether those political parties agreed or not, and associations, on 1 September 1975.

Organizationally, President Mujibur Rahman, BaKSAL chairman, appointed for the national party a fifteen-member executive committee, a 120-member central committee, and five front organisations, namely, Jatiya Krishak League, Jatiya Sramik League, Jatiya Mahila League, Jatiya Juba League and Jatiya Chhatra League (peasants, workers, women, youth, and students respectively). All members of the executive committee and central committee were to enjoy the status of ministers. BaKSAL was also designed to overhaul the administrative system of the country to make it people-oriented.

Executive committee

# Sheikh Mujibur Rahman (Chairman)
# Syed Nazrul Islam (Vice-Chairman)
# Muhammad Mansur Ali (Secretary General)
# Abul Hasnat Muhammad Qamaruzzaman
# Abdul Mannan
# Khondaker Mostaq Ahmad
# Abdul Malek Ukil
# Professor M. Yousuf Ali
# Manaranjan Dhar
# Muzaffar Ahmed Chowdhury
# Sheikh Abdul Aziz
# Mohiuddin Ahmed
# Gazi Golam Mostafa
# Zillur Rahman
# Sheikh Fazlul Haque Mani
# Abdur Razzaq

Central Committee

# Sheikh Mujibur Rahman
# Syed Nazrul Islam
# Muhammad Mansur Ali
# Abdul Mannan
# Abdul Malik Ukil
# Khondaker Mostaq Ahmad
# A.H.M Kamaruzzaman
# Kazi Linchon
# Mahmudullah
# Abdus Samad Azad
# M. Yousuf Ali
# Phani Bhushan Majumder
# Kamal Hossain
# Muhammad Sohrab Hossain
# Abdur Rab Serniabat
# Manaranjan Dhar
# Abdul Matin
# Asaduzzanan
# Md Korban Ali
# Dr. Azizul Rahman Mallik
# Dr. Muzaffar Ahmed Chowdhury
# Tofael Ahmed
# Shah Moazzam Hossain
# Abdul Momin Talukdar
# Dewan Farid Gazi
# Professor Nurul Islam Choudhry
# Taheruddin Thakur
# Moslemuddin Khan
# Professor Abu Sayeed
# Nurul Islam Manzur
# KM Obaidur Rahman
# Dr. Khitish Chandra Mandal
# Reazuddin Ahmad
# M. Baitullah
# Rahul Quddus (Secretary)
# Zillur Rahman
# Mohiuddin Ahmad MP
# Sheikh Fazlul Haque Mani
# Abdur Razzaq
# Sheikh Shahidul Islam
# Anwar Choudhry
# Syeda Sajeda Chowdhury
# Taslima Abed
# Abdur Rahim
# Abdul Awal
# Lutfur Rahman
# A.K. Muzibur Rahman
# Dr. Mofiz Choudhry
# Dr. Alauddin Ahammad
# Dr. Ahsanul Haq
# Raushan Ali
# Azizur Rahman Akkas
# Sheikh Abdul Aziz
# Salahuddin Yusuf
# Michael Sushil Adhikari
# Kazi Abdul Hakim
# Mollah Jalaluddin
# Shamsuddin Mollah
# Gour Chandra Bala
# Gazi Ghulam Mustafa
# Shamsul Haq
# Shamsuzzoha
# Rafiqueuddin Bhuiya
# Syed Ahmad
# Shamsur Rahman Khan Shahjahan
# Nurul Haq
# Kazi Zahirul Qayyum
# Capt.(Retd) Sujjat Ali
# M.R. Siddiqui
# MA Wahab
# Chittaranjan Sutar,
# Sayeda Razia Banu
# Ataur Rahman Khan
# Khandakar Muhammad Illyas
# Mong Pru Saire
# Professor Muzaffar Ahmed Chowdhury
# Ataur Rahman
# Pir Habibur Rahman
# Syed Altaf Hossain
# Muhammad Farhad
# Matia Chowdhury
# Hazi Danesh
# Taufiq Inam (Secretary)
# Nurul Islam (Secretary)
# Fayezuddin Ahmed (Secretary)
# Mahbubur Rahman (Secretary)
# Abdul Khaleque
# Muzibul Haq (Secretary)
# Abdur Rahim (Secretary)
# Moinul Islam (Secretary)
# Sayeeduzzaman (Secretary)
# Anisuzzaman (Secretary)
# Dr. A. Sattar (Secretary)
# M.A Samad (Secretary)
# Abu Tahir (Secretary)
# Al Hossaini (Secretary)
# Dr Tajul Hossain (Secretary)
# Motiur Rahman. Chairman of Trading Corporation of Bangladesh
# Maj. Gen K.M. Safiullah
# Air Vice Marshal Abdul Karim Khandker
# Commodore M.H. Khan
# Maj Gen. Khalilur Rahman
# A.K. Naziruddin Ahmed
# Dr. Abdul Matin Chowdhury
# Dr. Mazharul Islam
# Dr. Sramul Haq
# Badal Ghosh
# ATM Syed Hossain
# Nurul Islam
# Dr. Nilima Ibrahim
# Dr. Nurul Islam PG Hospital
# Obaidul Huq Editor Observer
# Anwar Hossain Manju Editor Ittefaq
# Mizanur Rahman Editor Bangladesh Press International
# Manawarul Islam
# Abu Thaer Bhuiyan
# Brig. A. N. M. Nuruzzaman DG Jatiya Rakkhi Bahini
# Kamruzzaman teachers Association
# Dr. Mazhar Ali Kadri

Activities

Many restrictive regulations coming from BaKSAL included the promulgation of the Newspaper Ordinance (June 1975; Annulment of Declaration) under which the declarations of all but four state owned newspapers were annulled. The Fourth Amendment was a direct attack on press freedom which allowed only the ''Dainik Bangla'', ''Bangladesh Observer'', ''The Daily Ittefaq'', and ''Bangladesh Times'' to continue their publication and banned the rest of the press and newspaper industries. It brought the whole news media completely under the absolute control of the government.

Dissolution

The party contested in 1986 general election using "Boat" symbol and later in 1991 general election using "Bicycle" symbol.The party carried out independently until 1990s, when almost all of its party leaders deserted the organisation to merge with the Bangladesh Awami League.

Legacy

Lawrence Lifschultz wrote in the ''Far Eastern Economic Review'' in 1974 that Bangladeshis thought that "the corruption and malpractices and plunder of national wealth" was "unprecedented".

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Baksal

1975 disestablishments in Bangladesh
1975 establishments in Bangladesh
Bangladesh Awami League
Defunct left-wing political party alliances
Defunct political party alliances in Bangladesh
Parties of one-party systems
Political parties disestablished in 1975
Political parties established in 1975
Popular fronts
Sheikh Mujibur Rahman
Socialist parties in Bangladesh