The Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami-led alliance will hold a protest rally in the capital Dhaka today to press for its demand for the implementation of the February 12 referendum verdict by passing the July National Charter in Jatiya Sangsad.
It made the decision on April 2 at a meeting of the 11-party opposition alliance’s liaison committee in the capital’s Gulshan area. Jamaat chief Shafiqur Rahman chaired the meeting.
The alliance announced that they would hold the protest rally at 5:00pm today
in front of Baitul Mukkaram National Mosque in the capital’s Purana Paltan area.
The alliance announced the protest rally a day after its lawmakers had staged a walkout from Jatiya Sangsad, alleging that there had been no clear parliamentary response to their adjournment motion regarding the implementation of the July National Charter (Reform of Constitution) Implementation Order 2025 and the status of the proposed Constitution Reform Council session.
Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami amir Shafiqur Rahman, also the leader of the opposition in parliament, on Friday said that the ruling Bangladesh Nationalist Party had forgot its commitments it made before the February 12 national elections and suddenly changed its opinions regarding the referendum on reforms.
While speaking at a rally organised by the Dhaka district Jamaat at South Keraniganj in Dhaka, Shafiqur said that the BNP’s change in its stand created problems in passing the July National Charter in parliament and the BNP had broken its commitments to the people in this regard.
The opposition leader said, ‘You [BNP] say that the people of the country are the owner of the country and you [BNP] believe in the sovereignty of the people.’
The people of the country on February 12 casted two votes — one for Jatiya Sangsad elections and another for the referendum on reform proposals.
‘You urged the people to cast their votes in favour of the referendum and about 70 per cent of the voters had casted “yes” votes but now you are saying 51 per cent of the voters had casted their votes in favour of your party,’ Shafiqul said, adding, ‘Now you are ignoring the opinions of 70 per cent of the voters who casted “yes” votes in favour of the referendum.’
He said that now the BNP was saying that there was no provision of holding referendum in the constitution, but BNP founder Ziaur Rahman, also a former president, first held a referendum in the country and Jatiya Party founder HM Ershad, also a military dictator and a former president, held another referendum.
‘We wanted to resolve the issue of the July Charter in parliament, but the BNP has so far not agreed to do that and we would wage movements on the issue and compel the government to resolve it,’ Shafiqur said.
