Nasiruddin Patwary, the convener of the government-sponsored Jatiya Nagorik Committee and former leader of Jamaat’s B-team AB Party, on February 14 warned that a civil war could break out if the Yunus administration didn’t ban the Awami League before holding elections.

His renewed call for AL’s ban echoes the demand of its student wing, the Students Against Discrimination (SAD), AB Party and some hardline Islamists, who have been carrying out subversive activities since July last year to topple Sheikh Hasina.

Patwary formed the JNC last year with members of the SAD, Islami Chhatra Shibir, now-defunct Ganatantrik Chhatra Shakti, and Islamists.

These radical groups resumed violent attacks on establishments of AL leaders and supporters on February 5, the day pro-liberation activists launched the Shahbagh Movement in 2013 demanding the highest punishment for 1971 war criminals.

On February 12, when the interim government staged a poor drama of visiting the solitary confinements and torture cells of security forces and the OHCHR released its full report on the July-August riots, these groups started a special campaign demanding the ban on AL, terming the party fascist and pro-India.

Their parent party, Jamaat, and like-minded Islamist groups have been working against the AL since the country’s Liberation War but couldn’t ban it. After the August 5 coup, orchestrated by the anarchist student groups, Islamists and the army, the interim government took the initiative several times but failed, apparently due to objections by the international community and the BNP.

Political observers say the pro-Yunus quarters have raised the issue again due to the eroding image of the government for publicly patronizing the JNC to form a King’s party, nepotism, allegations of extortion against student leaders and some student advisers, and overall decline in law and order.

For example, Chief Adviser Yunus himself recently admitted that he has asked students to form a political party. He, however, said in late December that he had no idea that the students were forming a political party. The BNP has expressed frustration and said a caretaker government would be needed before the election if the interim government loses its neutrality.

Moreover, the student advisers, coordinators of SAD and leaders of JNC are occupying business establishments in Dhaka and elsewhere exercising influence; Adviser Mahfuj Alam has captured a floor in Borak Tower in Banani, JNC and SAD have set up offices in Rupayan Tower at Banglamotor and Adviser Nahid Islam’s father and brother have set up offices in Dhaka’s Mirpur and Rampura area and are engaged in lobbying. On the other hand, Adviser Asif Mahmud’s father is campaigning in Comilla for the elections and has donated Tk10 lakh in mosques.

According to journalist and NGO owner Zillur Rahman, a student coordinator of Dhaka University along with several students met with a senior government official at the Secretariat on February 10 to demand awarding a tender to their client. The official said all the five bidders were disqualified and they were preparing for re-tender. However, the coordinator didn’t accept it and asked for an exception. As the official didn’t budge an inch, the DU coordinator said they’d come through a different way to make sure their client gets the project.

Meanwhile, many political parties, diplomats and human rights activists have expressed concerns after the interim government launched the Operation Devil Hunt to capture the Awami League leaders and activists, with the country’s overall law and order is a poor state.