Dhaka, March 31 -- Jamaat-e-Islami chief Shafiqur Rahman believes that the Awami League, ousted from power by a mass uprising, is "already banned in the hearts and minds of the people".

Speaking to reporters on Monday after attending Eid prayers at the Baitul Mukarram National Mosque and visiting the families of several victims of the July-August Uprising, Shafiqur said: "It is Allah who has banned them [the Awami League] and the people have done the same in their hearts. If they are not a banned group, then why have they all fled?"

On the issue of justice for the victims of the uprising that ended the Awami League's 15-year rule, he added: "Justice is their right -- an undeniable right of the families who have suffered. Justice must be...