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Published : 18 Oct 2025, 12:07 AM
Four left-leaning parties have refused to sign the July Charter and say they will launch a public campaign against it, alleging the document distorts the history of the Liberation War and alters the constitution’s basic principles.
The Communist Party of Bangladesh (CPB), Bangladesh Samajtantrik Dal (BaSaD), BaSaD (Marxist) and Bangladesh JaSaD said they would take their objections to voters nationwide.
They argue the charter, framed after months of cross-party dialogue, questions “the four fundamental principles of the Liberation War, the declaration of independence and the constitution”.
The charter, described by organisers as a political agreement for state reforms, was signed on Friday at the parliament’s South Plaza by leaders of 24 parties, Chief Advisor Muhammad Yunus and members of the National Consensus Commission.
The National Citizen Party (NCP) joined the dialogue but skipped the ceremony, saying the charter’s legal basis for implementation was not clear.
‘ADDITIONS ARE ONE THING, THIS CHANGES THE BASICS’
Sharif Nurul Ambia, president of Bangladesh JaSaD, said his party could have accepted additions to the constitution “if the four fundamental principles remained intact and consistent”.
“But they have already changed it (instead of adding). That is why we did not sign the July Charter; we will present our view to the people,” he said.
Ambia also questioned the interim government’s capacity, citing the country’s law-and-order situation. “They are following their own will… nothing is right.”
‘CONSENSUS BY MAJORITY, WITH DISSENT NOTES’
BaSaD’s General Secretary Bazlur Rashid Firoz said commissions were formed to draft reforms to laws and institutions after seven to eight months of talks.
He recalled the chief advisor telling parties on Oct 5 last year that whatever all parties agreed would constitute consensus.
“But in the National Consensus Commission, decisions were taken by majority, with notes of dissent. Promoting that as consensus is misleading the public,” he said. “A national charter should be unanimous.”
Firoz said amendments proposed by left parties to correct the historical record were not incorporated, including references in the schedule to the Apr 10 Mujibnagar declaration, on which the Liberation War was waged.
He called the pledge of “full implementation” of seven points “incomprehensible” given the dissent on record. “You can’t even take this to court. Can you change the people’s fundamental democratic right?” he asked, alleging the process risks division “in the name of implementing consensus”.
He said the parties would now “go to the people” to explain their objections.
“They actually want to erase the Liberation War, excluding its history, the state’s fundamental principles and the declaration of independence -- and replace it with the 2024 mass uprising. Some want to go back to 1947, that Pakistan style.”
‘MINIMUM UNITY WAS OUR GOAL’
Masud Rana, coordinator of BaSaD (Marxist), said his party joined the talks to push democratic change and a minimum foundation of unity on which to run the state.
“The things we agreed on were big steps. Now those achievements face questions, and the country may move towards uncertainty,” he warned, accusing the commission of “consciously creating a division”.
The left bloc, he said, will make people “vocal against anything that destroys the spirit of the Liberation War”.
'1972 CONSTITUTION ‘NOT UP FOR BARGAINING’
CPB President Sajjad Zahir Chandan said the next phase would be meetings and programmes to explain why the four parties withheld their signatures.
“We don’t allow any consideration on the Liberation War or the 1972 constitution,” he said, accusing the Awami League of trying to monopolise the war’s legacy.
“The Liberation War doesn’t mean the Awami League. It means leftist, progressive, patriotic commoners, and we want to present this idea to the people.”
