Professor Muhammad Yunusโ remarks at the July National Charter signing ceremony are nothing but rhetorical excess and a glut of superior ego, the University Teachers Network said in a statement on Sunday.
Dr. Yunus has raised many unnecessary and irrelevant issues in his speech while highlighting the importance of the charter. His hollow speech has failed to show the nation a ray of hope.
The statement said: โThe chief adviser has raised an objectionable and controversial issue, which is highly reactive not only politically but also from a sociological and philosophical perspective. We believe that the polarisation of โbarbarismโ and โcivilisationโ that he has made in his speech twice is condemnable and hateful.โ
Criticising the July Charter, the statement also said that it does not contain any ray of hope for women, gender minorities and indigenous peoples.
July Charter: Sheikh Hasina condemns indemnity for โkillings by July heroesโ
The July Charter: Undermining Bangladeshโs Liberation spirit
The July Charter: Journalist Masood Kamal slams lack of consensus, transparency
โAlthough not all political parties were present on the day of the signing of the charter, it seems that the government and the consensus commission were busy organising this event to implement a specific political agenda. In this situation, the July Charter has failed to call for unity and has also been questioned, which will create a new political crisis in the near future.
โAlthough the grand ceremony was held to organise the ‘July National Charter Signing’, there were many questions in the public mind about the process and scope of preparing the July Charter from the beginning. Therefore, there was no significant interest among the people in this event.
โThe way the interim government has moved forward with establishing various reform commissions and consensus commissions, discussing reforms, and above all, preparing the July Charter, has disappointed many participants in the uprising.โ
The teachers said that the interim government has become so alienated from the people that the voices of many stakeholders and the aspirations of the people, including the education and health sectors, have not been reflected in the reform recommendations and the final July Charter.
Ishtehar: The reason why the US wants to build a base in Bangladesh
Nijhoom Majumder: Six pillars of the state being systematically weakened
Custodial Death: 31 Awami League leaders, activists killed inย 14ย months
โIn particular, the charter does not offer any hope for women, gender minorities and indigenous peoples. Various parties have been kept out of the process of finalising the charter to please certain groups. The gap in the โunityโ that has been promoted without giving importance to the intentions (demands) of the students, the biggest partners in the uprising, was seen on the day of the signing of the charter. A section of the July fighters was outraged, and the police launched a vicious attack on them.โ
The teachers said that the British and Western colonial hegemons imposed the so-called โmodernity,โ โenlightenment,โ โcivilisation,โ and โwhite supremacyโ on the colonised nations by declaring them โsavagesโ and โbarbarians.โ
Similarly, Dr. Yunus, sitting in the seat of power, has spoken in the mould of reckless colonialism. It is important to remember that although he is the chief executive of a government, this is his temporary identity. He is respected all over the world as a renowned academician and sociologist.
โWe find it astonishing how, despite having such a colourful academic background, he was able to use colonial vocabulary in his speech. The University Teachers Network strongly condemns and protests against such a choice of words.โ
English