August 5, 2024 36-day-long student-led mass movement it led, it eventually led to the resignation of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. More than 2,000 people were killed and over 20,000 were injured in the protests. After the downfall of her government, Hasina and other top AL leaders took refuge in India.

Three days after the fall of the regime, on 8 August, an interim government led by Yunus Sarkar assumed power. Initially subject to relatively little criticism, the IU's interim authority came under increasing attack from political groups and uprising participants.

Bangladesh subsequently shuddered into economic chaos and a law-and-order breakdown. Even as the economy began to calm down, public insecurity and resentment still lurked.

The government established six independent reform commissions on 7 October 2024 to address the national crisis, about the Constitution, polls, judiciary, civil services, law (police), and the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC). These commissions provided their full reports on January 31, 2025. Then, on 12 February 2025, a collective organism, the National Consensus Commission, comprised of the heads of the reform commissions, was set up. The commission was to create a national consensus and make recommendations on appropriate responses to its findings.

The Commission was launched on February 15, and first-round discussions were completed in May. More than 35 political parties and alliances are contesting the second phase, which will continue till July 31. Forty-four sessions were conducted to discuss 20 key issues of reform.

The discussions are not over with all the political parties, and the Commission wants to conclude the July Charter by Thursday. Consensus is still needed on eight of the 20 core reform proposals discussed in the second phase.

Despite its concerns, however, the Commission on Monday circulated a draft to several political parties that any incoming government resulting from polls should promise to introduce the changes within two years of taking office.

The draft has faced bitter criticism from several political parties, including Jamaat-e-Islami, National Citizens' Party (NCP) and Islami Andolon Bangladesh. Their main fear lies in the lack of legal guarantees for the enactment of the suggested reforms.

The draft is under review at the party’s level,” NCP Secretary Akhtar Hossain said. He insisted every basic reform proposal would have to be spelt out, and that any large exception would be subject to internal party talks about endorsing the draft. He also recommended that a “Legal Framework Order” be released to make the reforms legally enforceable on future governments. He reiterated the NCP's previous stance supporting a Constituent Assembly to draft a new constitution-- a move he says is necessary to enshrine national issues in the country's highest law.

Islami Andolon Bangladesh described the draft as a "frail paper" because it would not be legally binding. The party’s Secretary General, Maulana Yunus Ahmad, said the charter doesn’t specify any legal authority or bounden duty of the government for reform. He also denounced the fact that Sheikh Hasina’s name was cancelled from the draft as the architect of the fascist regime, which had been overthrown. "As a result, he said, the bill is a hollow shell.

Jamaat-e-Islami Nayeb-e-Ameer Syed Abdullah Mohammad Taher has said there are traces of dangerous things in some issues of the draft of the July Charter. He stressed that the reform process would be in jeopardy without a legal framework. Taher suggested issuing an ordinance to enshrine the framework as a law, which could be approved by Parliament through an instrument of ratification or by public referendum, and to demonstrate a genuine intent to enforce it. Jamaat will also give its revised draft to the Commission, he said.

The BNP, on the other hand, has also shown its broad support for the draft. Salahuddin Ahmad, a member of the standing committee of the party, said that they agree on the promises mentioned in the charter but have a few reservations on the wording and the phrasing of the charter, which they will convey to the Commission.

“It is frustrating that the July Charter has not been completed even a year after the movement,” Shawkat Osman Toukir, leader of Chattogram Metropolitan Student Federation, told CityPost. He emphasised the importance of reaching a consensus among all political parties soon. Toukir suggested that in the case of issues with no consensus, the parties may include them in their election manifesto and pledge to implement them in the first year of coming to power.

Rifat Islam Suhrod, activist of Chattogram University Chhatra Dal, said the July Charter bears political significance. Without a formal charter, he warned, a returning Awami League could delegitimise the uprising, calling it a foreign-backed conspiracy. He stressed the need to enshrine the July Charter in the constitution and decried divisions among political parties. “If NCP’s conditions were to become obligatory, the whole purpose of the Consensus Commission would fall through,” said Suhrod.

There should be a "July Declaration" before we prepare for the final July Charter, even if other parties don't agree," added Tanjid Rahman, a youth organiser from Jatiya Juboshokti. NCP, like I said, is a product of the uprising, and that is why they put a lot of emphasis on such a declaration, he said. He also demanded punishment and accountability to brand the Awami League as a terrorist organisation in legal ways.

Addressing the protesters, Touhid Abdullah, convener of the Students Alliance for Democracy (SAD), urged the activists to be clear about their mission and goals. He added: "The Charter is more necessary than ever, because it is all that we can cling to, for since the July days nothing has matured; nothing has been prepared. “Uprisings don’t follow plans—they erupt. We need to write down the struggle against BAKSAL-style exploitation,” he said. Abdullah also slammed the move by the Commission to take opinion from political parties only, saying that for a document that is a matter of national significance, the citizens’ input should have been crucial. He also wondered why Nahid did not make a July Declaration since he was in the office. He dismissed the idea of elections because reform is a long process, and the interim government can make necessary reforms before establishing an electoral system for new elections.

The 2024 mass uprising. The call for the July Charter had been initiated by sections of the students involved in the 2024 uprising in a bid to ensure that the movement would receive constitutional acknowledgement. But now, almost a year later, and after numerous meetings and consultations have taken place, the release of the draft has met with dissatisfaction from a number of the uprising-born parties, such as the NCP and Jamaat. The fate of the July Charter remains unclear as the rifts broaden.

ctgpost/mhd