Special Assistant to the Chief Adviser Ali Riaz has said that the core message of the July Charter is to return rights to the people.
He said this during an exchange of views with Buddhists and Christians to promote the referendum and motivate voters.
He said, “The rights for which the great Liberation War was waged in 1971. The rights for which the mass uprising was orchestrated in 2024. After traversing many bloody paths for 54 years, the opportunity to return rights to the people has come again. We will not let this opportunity slip away carelessly. We will implement the July Charter, make the ‘Yes’ vote victorious in the upcoming referendum, and establish a democratic and humane Bangladesh.”
He said that the July Charter will ensure every citizen’s religious rights: it will establish a society based on equality, human dignity, and social justice, where the state will not differentiate between individuals based on religious belief.
“This charter will ensure equal rights for all as citizens,” he said.
The Buddhist and Christian Religious Welfare Trust organised this exchange of views at the Basabo Dharmarajika Buddhist Mahavihara auditorium in the capital on Thursday afternoon.
Ali Riaz said that to rescue the state plagued by the oppression of fascism, extensive reforms must be brought about by changing the established system. And saying “Yes” in the upcoming referendum is the demand of the time for the purpose of those reforms.
Regarding the appointment and responsibilities of the president, the chief adviser’s special assistant said, “In the past, everything happened at the will of the prime minister. According to the constitution, the president cannot make any decision alone except for appointing the prime minister and the chief justice. Yet it is said that constitutional bodies like the Election Commission, the Public Service Commission Secretariat, and the appointment of judges in the judiciary are appointed by the President,” he added.
The exchange of views meeting was presided over by Bhabesh Chakma, vice chairman of the Buddhist Religious Welfare Trust. Speakers at the meeting included Secretary of the Ministry of Religious Affairs Md Kamal Uddin, Secretary of the Buddhist Religious Welfare Trust Jaydatta Barua, Trustee of the Christian Religious Welfare Trust Pius Costa, among others.
