The Bangladesh Nationalist Party-led government has decided to withdraw politically motivated cases filed during the 17-year rule of the ousted Awami League regime.
The ministry of home affairs said on Sunday that approval had been given to withdraw 1,006 cases filed to harass leaders and activists of opposition parties during the regime.
The decision to withdraw the cases came five days after the BNP formed the government under the leadership of party chairman Tarique Rahman, following its landslide victory in the 13th Jatiya Sangsad elections held on February 12.
‘Approval has been given to withdraw 1,006 politically motivated harassment cases filed against leaders and activists of opposition parties during the 17 years of the previous fascist government,’ the home ministry said in a statement on Sunday, quoting the new home minister Salahuddin Ahmed as saying.
Earlier, on February 8, during the interim government of Professor Muhammad Yunus, the law ministry in a statement said that the ministry had recommended the withdrawal of 23,865 cases filed during the tenure of the Sheikh Hasina regime.
Most of these cases were filed against leaders and activists of various political parties, including the BNP, Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami, Hefazat-e-Islam and Gono Odhikar Parishad.
The ministry had said that nearly 500,000 people would be relieved from the ‘harassment cases’ filed during the Awami League regime.
According to the ministry’s information, the Yunus-led interim government formed two committees on September 22, 2025 to facilitate the withdrawal of cases filed between January 6, 2009, and August 5, 2024, the day when the Awami League was ousted from power amid a mass uprising.
Of them, one was a district-level committee led by the deputy commissioner, and the other was an inter-ministerial committee headed by the then law adviser Asif Nazrul.
Applications were later invited from political parties. Based on submissions from affected parties, the inter-ministerial committee reviewed the applications in 39 meetings and recommended the withdrawal of 23,865 cases.
