Leaders of Hefazat-e-Islam, BDR Kalyan Parishad, the 2018 Quota Reform Movement and 2018 Road Safety Movement labelled the July Declaration unveiled by Chief Adviser Muhammad Yunus on August 5 this year as incomplete and not in line with public opinion.
They substantiated those remarks at a joint press conference held at the National Press Club on August 11 by saying that the declaration had failed to mention five of the most important chapters in the country's history.
These include the partition and humanitarian catastrophe of 1947, the BDR massacre of 2009 and the 2013 Shapla Chattar massacre. The other events relate to the oppression of the quota reform movement in 2018 and police and Chhatra League-led repression of teenage protesters during the Road Safety Movement the same year.
The Bangladesh Gothontantrik Andolon also joined the programme, where speakers alleged that although the declaration commemorates past struggles and martyrs, these five important historical chapters have been deliberately omitted.
In addition, it does not mention a clear roadmap for the future, administrative reforms, legal and constitutional proposals, or limitations on the powers and accountability of the interim government.
"We will not allow history to be distorted," said Mohammad Zahid Hasan, coordinator of Bangladesh Gothontantrik Andolon.
"To make the July Declaration complete and morally acceptable, these five chapters must be recognised as part of the continuity of the mass struggle. Otherwise, it will remain a document of the rulers," he emphasised.
Azizul Haque Islam, joint secretary general of Hefazat-e-Islam, said the omission of the 2013 attack on Hefazat at Shapla Chattar showed "a gross disregard for the religious people of the country".
He also said that it is doubtful whether the mass uprising of 2024 would have happened if the seeds of revolution had not been sown during the 2018 quota reform movement.
"Our comrades were subjected to remand, assault cases, and oppression, yet the importance of that movement has been denied in this declaration."
BDR Kalyan Parishad President Faizul Alam said, "The planned killings in Peelkhana in 2009 and the subsequent harassment and injustice are still ongoing. There are many imprisoned without reason. The demand for their release and reinstatement as BDR members should be in this declaration."
He warned that if it is not included, the organisation would reject the declaration and take to the streets.
Road Safety Movement President Abdullah Mehedi Dipto said, "The July Declaration has become a non-communal and incomplete document, reflecting the will of political parties. The 2018 Road Safety Movement and the youth uprising made our generation aware about politics, which was the basis for the mass uprising in 2024.
"The oppression of students and youth by the government and various syndicates continues, yet that struggle has been erased in this declaration."
The speakers further said that if these five chapters are not included, the declaration will not meet the demands of the people and the interim government will lose the trust of the people.
They urged the government to restore the trust of the people by quickly incorporating these issues.
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