Jamaat to stage three days of protest rallies from Sept 18

The party says protest marches will be held in Dhaka and the rest of the country between Sept 18-26 to press home a five-point charter of demands

Jamaat-e-Islami has announced a three-day programme of protest rallies to press home a series of demands, including holding the national elections in February based on the “July Charter”.

The party’s deputy chief Syed Abdullah Mohammad Taher laid out the plans at a press conference at the Al-Falah Auditorium in Moghbazar on Monday.

According to the schedule, protest marches will be held in Dhaka on Sept 18, in divisional cities on Sept 19, and in districts and Upazilas across the country on Sept 26.

“The elections will be held next February based on the July Charter. That is why we are announcing five points,” Taher said.

The demands include the introduction of the proportional representation (PR) system in both houses of parliament in the national elections, ensuring a level playing field for every party and candidate to ensure free and fair elections, highlighting all the atrocities and corruption under the "fascist" government, and a ban on the activities of the Jatiya Party and other members of the 14-Party Alliance for supporting authoritarianism.

“We are making a sincere appeal to our countrymen to unite to realise the demands of the people through the implementation of these programmes,” said Taher.

According to him, intellectuals, journalists, researchers and academics had all agreed with the demands to reform the electoral system through the implementation of PR and the ongoing movement.

“We have noticed that no steps are being taken to implement the demands of the people,” he said.

“Under these circumstances, there is no alternative to a mass movement to realise the demands of the people. Therefore, based on the July Charter, the five-point demand has been presented before the nation with the aim of turning Bangladesh into a just and accountable democratic state by holding free, fair and acceptable elections and establishing the people’s right to vote in February.”