Blockade at Shahbagh demands implementation of ‘July Charter’, traffic gridlock

The “July fighters” have been staging a sit-in programme at Shahbagh, a vital intersection of the capital city, demanding an immediate implementation of the July Declaration, July Charter and their inclusion in permanent legal provisions.

The protesters under the banner of families of the July martyrs and injured ‘July Fighters’ started the demonstration at 10:30 am on Thursday.

This has created a severe traffic congestion in and around the Shahbagh intersection.

Speaking to Prothom Alo, Abu Hasan, one of the demonstrators, said their programme would continue until the July Charter was officially announced.

The demonstrators chanted various slogans including “July niye talbahana, cholbe na, cholbe na (No more delay on July)” and “July sanad dite hobe, dite hobe (The July Charter must be declared).”

Their demands include: formal recognition of the July martyrs and injured protesters as ‘July Fighters’; lifelong honour, medical care, education, and welfare for the families of the martyrs and injured; full state responsibility for treatment, rehabilitation, employment, and welfare of the injured; provision of lifelong respectable allowances for affected families; establishment of special legal aid and protection centres for victims and their families; international-standard prosecution of those responsible for the violence and repression; and, formation of an independent ‘Truth and Justice Commission’.

Shahbagh police station officer-in-charge Khalid Monsur confirmed that traffic had come to a standstill in the area due to the blockade.

Meanwhile, the National Consensus Commission seeks to finalise the second phase of discussions on the July Charter by today. However, talks with political parties have not yet been completed.

Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami, National Citizen Party (NCP), and Islami Andolon Bangladesh have raised objections to the draft July National Charter.

Their objection is particularly over the provision that says that reforms will be implemented within two years of forming a new government through elections.

The three parties argue that the July Charter must be embedded within a binding legal framework to ensure certainty in the reform process. Otherwise, the whole reform process will fall under uncertainty.

BNP, however, has expressed general agreement with the draft.