As August 5 nears, marking one year since Sheikh Hasina’s fleeing to India amid a student-led uprising, the banned Awami League struggles to reorganise via encrypted platforms like Telegram.
The party faces internal challenges, including allegations of a ‘pay-to-talk’ scandal involving General Secretary Obaidul Quader, unauthorised fundraising, unregulated Telegram groups, and infiltration by adversaries, leading to arrests of activists, according to Anindya Banerjee of News18.
Telegram has become the party’s primary platform, with groups of 20,000-30,000 members hosting nightly meetings. Senior leaders, MPs, and regional organisers participate, but grassroots leaders allege that speaking slots, especially during Hasina’s appearances, are sold for financial contributions.
Quader, who delivers fiery speeches on Telegram, is accused of orchestrating these transactions, scheduling his own slots across groups in a bid for relevance. An anonymous party leader claimed, “Quader’s credibility is waning. He’s created Telegram groups not for unity but for financial gain, extracting funds from leaders and MPs for virtual meetings with Hasina.”
Further complicating matters, sources report that Bangladeshi authorities have infiltrated these groups, recording discussions to enable arrests based on chat logs. This has heightened security concerns among the exiled leadership.
In response, Hasina has urged a shift from online activism threatening to replace leaders who fail to comply. The party has advised using VPNs to counter data leaks to dark web marketplaces.