Major political parties have taken firm and opposing stances after the National Consensus Commission submitted its recommendations on implementing the July National Charter 2025 yesterday. The parties remain deeply divided over when the referendum should be held, whether a constitutional order is required, and how the upper house of parliament should be formed. BNP wants the referendum to be held on the day of the national election while Jamaat-e-Islami and the National Citizen Party (NCP) insist it should take place before the polls. The divide widens further over the constitutional order: BNP has outright rejected the proposal, whereas Jamaat and NCP support it as essential legal backing for the charter. On the formation of the upper house, BNP proposes it be based on the number of seats a party wins in the lower house while Jamaat and NCP want it on the basis of percentage of votes cast for each party in the lower house.
Jamaat-e-Islami has reiterated the demand for a referendum before the national election and a presidential order to implement the July charter.
For all latest news, follow The Daily Star’s Google News channel. “Those who want to hold the referendum on the same day [as the election] actually intend to render the July charter ineffective,” said Jamaat Secretary General Mia Golam Parwar at a rally held at the north gate of Baitul Mukarram National Mosque in Dhaka yesterday.
Jamaat’s Dhaka South unit organised the rally and procession demanding justice and punishment for those involved in the “logi-boitha (poles and sticks) violence of October 28, 2006”, which the party said resulted in killings.
“We are hearing that some individuals within the government are plotting to stage a farce by holding the national election and the referendum on the same day just to please a particular party,” Parwar said.
The July Charter, achieved through a sea of blood and a historic transformation of the state structure, is being “targeted”.
Calling on the government to “abandon this short-sighted plan”, Parwar demanded that the referendum be held in November in line with the people’s aspirations.
“Before that, the president should issue an order to implement the July Charter, followed by the national election. Only then will a new humane Bangladesh be established through people’s representatives elected by their votes,” he added.
Meanwhile, after a meeting with the Election Commission yesterday, Parwar said if both the national election and referendum are held on the same day, violence may erupt at polling centres.
Technical issues like the suspension of polling at a few centres could also undermine the referendum, he said.
“The national charter that is being prepared — the reforms we have agreed upon in the July National Charter, which aim to change the existing state structure… the nation must be informed about those first. Only then can they vote ‘yes’ or ‘no’. If the referendum and the election are held on the same day, how will the voters even know what they are voting for?”
Over at the rally, Parwar recalled the events of October 28, 2006.
“That day witnessed brutal, barbaric and unprecedented cruelty that shook the entire nation and the world. People couldn’t even watch the horrific killing footage for a minute.”
Everyone condemned it and demanded justice, he said.
“If people can be given death sentences in false cases after 30 or 40 years, why can’t the real perpetrators of the killings 20 years ago — Hasina, Menon, Inu, and other fascists of the 14-party alliance — be brought to justice?”
Either the law ministry should revive the case, or the existing tribunal should be tasked with investigating the incident and trying Hasina at the international tribunal, he said.
Jamaat Assistant Secretaries General Maulana Abdul Halim and Maulana Rafiqul Islam Khan attended the event as special guests.
The rally was presided over by Dhaka South Ameer and central executive committee member Md Nurul Islam Bulbul and conducted by Dhaka South Secretary Shafiqul Islam Masud.