July Charter remains major political agenda for NCP

An initiative has been taken to draft a declaration for the July mass uprising based on national consensus. The interim government announced this at the end of last December. However, this has not materialised. In the face of protests last month, the government announced it would declare the July Charter within 30 working days. The deadline will end on 30 June. Meanwhile, National Citizen Party (NCP) is closely monitoring whether the government fulfills that commitment.

According to party leaders, after the Eid-ul-Azha holidays, the July Declaration will become a major political agenda of NCP. It will try to build pressure to ensure that the government publishes the declaration within the announced timeframe. Also, alongside demands for Awami League to be placed on trial and also for reforms to be carried out, NCP leaders will call for holding local government elections before the national election and restructuring the current Election Commission (EC).

NCP leaders contend that under the leadership of Sheikh Hasina, Awami League had established an unlawful government without proper election. This led to the July mass uprising. There are apprehensions that in the future this uprising will be portrayed as an unconstitutional usurpation of power and that the students and people who took part in the uprising, as well as members of the interim government, would be accused of sedition. That is why there is need for the uprising to have recognition and this can be done through the July Charter.

NCP senior convener Ariful Islam Adib has said that NCP's main agenda now was to have the July Charter declared within the scheduled time. He said elections to the constituent assembly and fundamental reforms were also important agendas.

The issue of the July Charter first emerged on 28 December last year. Leaders from the two platforms behind the formation of the NCP, the anti-discrimination student movement and the National Citizens' Committee, announced on Facebook that the "Declaration of the July Revolution" would be unveiled on 31 December at the Central Shaheed Minar in Dhaka.

The announcement sparked widespread discussion in the country's political arena. Questions arose from various quarters about why the declaration was suddenly brought to the forefront and what impact it might have. There was also debate about whether there was a specific agenda behind suddenly labeling the July uprising as a “revolution.” All things considered, several groups began working behind the scenes to oppose the move.

The press wing of the interim government said that the government has no involvement with this initiative. Later, however, during an emergency press briefing on the night of 30 December, the chief advisor's press secretary Shafiqul Alam said that the government has taken initiative to draw up a declaration based on consensus regarding the July mass uprising. After a meeting that night, on 31 December the Anti-Discrimination Students Movement and NCP announced a March for Unity at the Shahid Minar on 31 December. At that event, they gave the interim government a 15 January ultimatum to announce the July Charter.

Until 15 January, the Anti-Discrimination Student Movement and NCP carried out various programmes, including leaflet distribution, demanding that the charter be declared. On 16 January, the day after the deadline, a meeting headed by the chief advisor was held with various political parties and stakeholders to finalise the declaration.

\A draft of the declaration was also shared with different parties on behalf of the government. However, no declaration was ultimately published through any government initiative.
Since the formation of the NCP on 28 February, however, party leaders have increasingly referred to proposed declaration as the "July Declaration" rather than the "Declaration of the July Revolution."

On 8 May, a protest was launched in front of the chief advisor's residence, Jamuna, demanding a ban on Awami League. The demonstration was called by Hasnat Abdullah, the chief organiser of NCP's southern region. The protest later spread to Shahbagh. Leaders from various Islamic parties and organisations, including Jamaat-e-Islami, Islami Andolon, and Hefazat-e-Islam, also joined the movement.

On the second day of the movement, NCP convener Nahid Islam and other leaders of the party brought forward three demands. These were to declare Awami League a terrorist organisation and ban it, to add a clause to the International Crimes Tribunals Act in order to place Awami League on trial as a party, and to declare the July Charter.

In face of this movement, the interim government called for a special meeting on the night of 10 May and took the decision to ban Awami League activities and to finalise the July Charter within 30 working days.
Yesterday, Friday, marked 18 working days since that decision of the government. Eid-ul Azha holidays have begun from 5 June. Given the long Eid holiday and the weekly holidays, the 30 working days will end on 30 June.

Speaking to Prothom Alo, NCP's joint convenor Sarwar Tushar said that after the interim government stated that the July Charter would be declared within 30 working days, it has not discussed the matter with the political parties. Since this is the second time they have committed themselves, they must keep their work. Not giving in to any visible or invisible pressure in this regard would be in keeping with the aspirations of the July uprising. The declaration must be made on schedule.

This leader also said that after Eid-ul Azha, they would be active in the political arena with the demand for Awami League's trial, the July declaration and the July Charter, that is, reforms. He said, "If the July declaration is not made in time, we will decide upon our next action. But we want to keep trust in the government regarding this."