Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami has strongly criticised the recently unveiled July Declaration, denouncing it as an incomplete document that fails to address the core aspirations of the people.
The party’s Nayeb-e-Ameer, Dr Syed Abdullah Mohammad Taher, voiced these concerns during a press conference at their central Mogbazar office on Wednesday.
Taher expressed disappointment that the 28-point declaration – read out by Chief Adviser Muhammad Yunus at the Parliament’s South Plaza on Tuesday – had conspicuously omitted critical historical benchmarks.
The declaration made no mention of pivotal events including the 1947 Liberation, Pilkhana massacre, Shapla Square killings, or the October 28 violence. Most glaringly, it failed to acknowledge the contributions of ulema, madrasa teachers and students, diaspora activists, and online organisers during the July uprising – an oversight Taher characterised as “nothing short of historical negligence.”
The Jamaat leader particularly noted the declaration’s failure to address the movement’s turning point – the consolidation of the original 9-point demand into a singular focus. He emphasised that the July uprising’s central demand for state restructuring, as outlined in the 19 points agreed upon through the National Consensus Commission’s deliberations, found no place in the current declaration.
Dr Taher criticised the vague implementation framework, noting the document neither specifies timelines nor methods for execution, instead deferring responsibility to the next government. This approach, he argued, effectively nullifies the sacrifices made by thousands during the uprising.
While Jamaat conditionally supports the election timeline announced by the chief adviser, Taher lamented the unilateral declaration process that excluded consultations with political parties.
The Jamaat leader said that the party demands immediate amendments to incorporate essential public demands into the declaration, urging the interim government to expedite the July Charter with proper legal grounding through ordinances, LFOs, or referendums, insisting that a legal framework must precede any election announcement to ensure credible polls.
Taher contextualized these demands by recalling the uprising’s origins as resistance to 16 years of fascist oppression, paying tribute to student activists and ordinary citizens whose sacrifices made the July uprising possible.
The press conference was attended by senior party leaders including Secretary General Prof Mia Golam Parwar and other key figures from Jamaat’s leadership.