The Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), led by former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia on Wednesday slammed the interim Government’s plan to implement the July Charter, aimed at institutionalising reforms in the wake of last year’s protests that ousted Sheikh Hasina’s Awami League Government, describing the move as “deception”. BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir said the party was “astonished” to find that its dissenting notes were missing from the final report published by the National Consensus Commission on Wednesday. He called the move a “deception” with both the people and political parties.
Alamgir demanded immediate reinstatement of BNP’s dissenting views into the Charter, warning that ignoring them would undermine the spirit of national unity. The July Charter was intended to reflect the aspirations of agitators during the violent street protests, dubbed as “July Uprising”, which led to Hasina’s ouster in August last year. The document contains over 80 reform proposals for different sectors. The interim Government led by Muhammad Yunus later disbanded the Awami League’s activities under anti-terrorism laws, while the Election Commission suspended its registration.
