Leaders of several Islamic parties on Thursday called for the July Charter to be legally recognised through a constitutional order, asking that the next national elections in February 2026 should be held under its framework.
This and four other demands were made at separate rallies in Dhaka, organised to press the five-point common agenda of the parties ahead of the forthcoming polls.
The four other demands include banning the politics of the Jatiya Party and the members of the AL-led 14-party alliance, ensuring a level-playing field for the next elections, delivering visible progress in prosecuting those responsible for the July 2024 killings, and introducing a proportional representation system in the proposed upper house of the Jatiya Sangsad.
Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami secretary general Mia Golam Parwar urged that the July Charter should be given a legal foundation before the national elections scheduled for February 2026.
He warned that holding the elections under the current state framework聽 without legalising the charter could plunge the country into a major crisis.
鈥業f elections are held without formalising the July Charter, another form of dictatorship could emerge under this framework,鈥� he said.
Parwar made the remarks at a protest rally ahead of a procession at the south gate of the Baitul Mukarram National Mosque in Dhaka.
Echoing Parwar鈥檚 remarks, Islami Andolan Bangladesh naib-e-amir Syed Muhammad Faizul Karim said that holding elections before granting legal recognition to the July Charter would indicate government bias in favour of a particular party.
Islami Andolan held a public rally to press the five demands after the Zuhr prayers at the north gate of the Baitul Mukarram National Mosque.
Faizul called for elections under the PR system, ensuring a level-playing field, the trial of the genocide perpetrators and collaborators of fascism, and a ban on their activities during the judicial process.
Mentioning the Bangladesh Nationalist Party, he said, 鈥業f the BNP can trust the people, what problem do they have with PR? If they win 90 per cent of the votes and secure 270 seats, let them govern alone; we have no objection. Hold a referendum on PR. If the public does not support it, we will no longer demand it.鈥�
After the rally, a protest procession moved through Paltan and came back to the Baitul Mukarram for prayers and supplications.
The Khelafat Majlis also called on the interim government to take the responsibility of implementing the July National Charter and ensure that the 13th national parliamentary elections were held on its basis.
Speaking at a pre-procession rally, party secretary general Ahmad Abdul Qader said that the people had entrusted the interim government with the task of prosecuting fascist elements, carrying out necessary reforms, and conducting fair elections.
鈥楬owever, we have observed conspiracies to leave several key reforms for the next elected government,鈥� he warned during the rally in front of the National Press Club, held to press the party鈥檚 six demands.
The Bangladesh Khelafat Majlis, Nezam-e-Islam Party, and Bangladesh Khelafat Andolan also held separate rallies in the capital to press their common demands.
Highlighting the interim non-partisan government as the most suitable and secure platform, the Islamic party leaders stressed that this period provided the constitutional and legal basis to implement the July Charter.
They called on the authorities to hold the elections on the basis of the charter without delay, ideally through a constitutional order or referendum, adding that there was still time to conduct elections under the charter without creating any crisis.
The Islamic parties would hold similar rallies and processions in divisional cities on Friday to press their demands.
