The 11-party alliance including NCP, LDP, Khelafat Majlis, and Labour Party on Thursday announced a 36-day nationwide political programme of seminar and human chain demanding immediate implementation of July Charter, enforcement of the referendum verdict, formation of a Constitutional Reform Council, and justice for all mass killings occurred between October 28, 2006, and August 5, 2024.
The programme was unveiled at a press conference in the capital by Jamaat-e-Islami Assistant A.H.M. Hamidur Rahman Azad, ex-MP, on behalf of the alliance leaders.
Azad described the July-August 2024 mass uprising as a historic turning point in the country’s political history, saying, the student-led movement gradually got into a nationwide uprise involving people from all walks of life, and ultimately it caused the fall of what he termed an authoritarian regime.
He pointed out years of political repression, human rights violations, restrictions on democratic practices, and the erosion of voting rights created the condition to that mass uprising, and said that the movement had sought to establish democracy, justice, accountability, and good governance.
And following the uprising, he added, the National Consensus Commission facilitated discussions among political parties, resulting in the formulation of the July Charter through a broad national consensus. A subsequent referendum endorsed the proposed reforms, he maintained.
However, Azad alleged the current government has failed to implement the referendum verdict and has yet to establish the Constitutional Reform Council envisioned under the reform framework, he said.
Under the 36-day programme, seminars on the July Charter will be held across districts and metropolitan areas from July 1 to July 15. Other events include a human chain by families of victims in front of the National Parliament on July 6, a national seminar on July 8, a women's leadership discussion on July 20, and nationwide prayer programmes on July 31.
Divisional rallies are scheduled in Rangpur, Barishal, Sylhet, and Mymensingh throughout July. The 36-day programme will conclude on August 5 with rallies and public gatherings across the country.
NCP Chief Coordinator Nasiruddin Patwari, LDP Acting Secretary General Billal Miyazi, Bangladesh Khelafat Majlis Senior Joint Secretary General Ataullah Amin, Labor Party Chairman Dr. Mostafizur Rahman Iran, AB Party Joint Secretary Advocate Abdullah Al Mamun Rana, JAGPA General Secretary Iqbal Hossain, and BDP Secretary Nizamul Haque Naeem, among others, were present at the press conference.
