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The interim government is set to unveil the July Proclamation today, having kept most political parties in the dark about the document’s content by not having them involved in the processes of drafting and finalising the proclamation.

The chief adviser, Professor Muhammad Yunus, will read out the proclamation at a programme at the South Plaza of the Jatiya Sangsad  complex at 5:00pm, chief adviser’s press wing said.

Bangladesh Television will broadcast the programme.

The July Proclamation will be given retrospective effect from August 5, 2024, marking the first anniversary of July Mass Uprising Day.

The proclamation is likely to feature a discrimination-free country while a July Charter is likely to be announced letter, detailing the state reforms based the National Consensus Commission dialogue with the political parties.

Although the commission involved 38 political parties in drafting the July Charter in the first round and 30 of them in the second round, held between March 20 and July 31, the government consulted most of the parties in drafting or finalisation of the July Proclamation, the parties alleged.

According to party representatives, only the Bangladesh Nationalist Party, the Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami, and the National Citizen Party were consulted in finalizing the document.

A statement issued on Saturday by the press wing of the Chief Adviser’s Office said that the July Proclamation would be unveiled at 5:00pm on Tuesday in the presence of all parties involved in the July 2024 uprising.

Representatives of several political parties and alliances, excluding the BNP, Jamaat, and NCP, told ¶¶Òõ¾«Æ· on Sunday that they had not been involved in finalising the proclamation. Some said that they had not even been invited to the unveiling ceremony to be held on the Manik Mia Avenue in the city.

Ganosamhati Andolan chief coordinator Zonayed Saki said that his party had submitted its views on the July Proclamation in February in response to a call from the Chief Adviser’s Office.

‘But we were not shown the final draft of the July Proclamation, which should have been done,’ Saki said.

On December 29 last year, Students Against Discrimination and the National Citizen Committee, two platforms behind the July uprising, publicly announced plans to release the July Proclamation on December 31.

However, after objections from several political parties, including the BNP, the interim government intervened and declared that the proclamation would be released only after consultation with all parties.

Like the Ganosamhati Andolan, two other partners in the Ganatantra Mancha alliance – the Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal and the Revolutionary Workers Party of Bangladesh – were also excluded from the processes of drafting and finalising the proclamation.

RWPB general secretary Saiful Huq said that he was completely unaware of the proclamation.

JSD general secretary Shahid Uddin Mahmud Shapon questioned, ‘What will we do by attending the unveiling ceremony of a proclamation to which our party has no connection at all?’

Shapon alleged that the interim government had only shared the final draft with the BNP, Jamaat, and NCP.

Islami Andolan Bangladesh, a religion-based political party, was not also engaged in drafting or finalising the July Proclamation. IAB presidium member Ashraf Ali Akon, who had been vocal in the NCC reforms dialogue, expressed frustration, commenting, ‘This government’s attitude is mysterious. It seems to me that it is hiding something from the political parties.’

Ashraf further alleged that the government was giving importance only to the BNP, Jamaat, and NCP.

Even parties aligned with the BNP were excluded from the drafting process.

Bangladesh Labour Party chair Mostafizur Rahman Iran, who claimed that two of his party activists had sacrificed their lives during the July uprising and that he himself was active in the anti-Awami League movement, said, ‘Unfortunately, my party has not been involved in preparing the July Proclamation.’

Nationalist Democratic Movement secretary general Mominul Amin said that his party had submitted its views on the proclamation in February. ‘But the government has not yet shared the final draft with us,’ he told ¶¶Òõ¾«Æ· on Sunday.

Bhasani Janashakti Party president Sheikh Rafiqul Islam Bablu, Socialist Party of Bangladesh general secretary Bazlur Rashid Firoz, and Communist Party of Bangladesh central committee secretary Sajedul Haque Rubel all reported similar experiences.

Sajedul Haque Rubel said that his party would not attend the unveiling ceremony. Bazlur Rashid Firoz added, ‘The proclamation must reflect the consent of political parties, students, workers, and professionals who actively participated in the July uprising and the anti-fascist movement. But the interim government has ignored them.’