Self-criticism and accountability: Sohel Taj lays conditions when asked about leading AL

He says he will consider leadership when the Awami League takes responsibility for its past actions

Tanjim Ahmad Sohel Taj, the son of Bangladesh’s first prime minister Tajuddin Ahmad, has laid down ‘conditions’ while responding to a question about taking the reins of the Awami League, the party that is in disarray after its fall from power.

Sohel Taj held the post of the state minister of home affairs during the Awami League’s rule in 2009, but later resigned.

He was asked the question at an event at the Bangla Academy Abdul Karim Sahitya Bisharad Auditorium on Saturday afternoon.

In response, he said: “If Awami League does not accept certain responsibilities, there is no question of me taking leadership of the party.”

The event, moderated by fiction writer Prof Ahmad Mostafa Kamal, was titled Voice of the Century Tajuddin Ahmad: In the eyes of the daughter, and son, and focused on the legacy of Tajuddin Ahmad, who played an instrumental role in Bangladesh's independence.

Since the fall of the Awami League government on Aug 5, Sohel has been criticising various actions and policies of the party while it was in power.

He also made several statements targeting the ousted prime minister Sheikh Hasina.

During the event, the host asked him whether the Tajuddin family or Sohel himself would take over the Awami League.

In his response, Sohel emphasised on the need for the Awami League to engage in ‘self-criticism,’ acknowledge its own actions, and hold its leaders accountable for policies that have led to the party’s destruction.

“When those involved in the murders, disappearances, and killings are brought to justice and punished, and when the Awami League is clean, then, if they want me to take leadership, I will consider it.”

Two years after the assassination of the Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, along with his family on Aug 15, 1975, the Awami League was revived and led by Sohel Taj's mother, Zohra Tajuddin, as the convenor.

With remarkable skill, she organised and unified the party, boosting morale at the grassroots level by touring up and down the country.

After Sheikh Hasina took over as the party president in 1981, Zohra Tajuddin remained an influential member of the Awami League's highest policymaking body until her death on Dec 20, 2013.

In this context, the host asked Sohel Taj about his potential leadership in the Awami League, though there is no formal proposal from the party since it was ousted from power.

Since Hasina left for India, she has continued to lead the party, with its activities and directives being managed through its Facebook page.

Meanwhile, Awami League activists have been posting taunting Sohel Taj on social media in response to his statements, to which he has been responding sarcastically.