Former Home Minister and Awami League leader Mohammad Nasim MP yesterday termed the banning of Harkat-ul-Jihad as an eyewash by the government that he alleged has so long provided political shelter to all these militant outfits. "We’d banned Harkat-ul-Jihad and outlawed its leader Mufti Hannan after the Kotalipara bomb planting. What use banning it anew after giving them shelter for last four years? This is designed to hoodwink people ahead of elections," Nasim told the news agency last night in his reaction over the government action.The former Home Minister observed that Mufti Hannan would have been arrested much earlier if the four-party alliance had not "protected" him. "After being arrested Mufti Hannan himself confessed that he had been under the shelter of the alliance and named several Ministers," he said. Nasim said the government was forced to ban the militant outfits and arrest their leaders as these "Frankenstein forces" have not only engulfed the entire society but also threatened the existence of the government.