July Charter’s Poison Pill: How Ali Riaz is ripping Bangladesh apart

Senior journalist Masood Kamal has condemned Chief Adviser Dr. Muhammad Yunus for dividing the nation and National Consensus Commission (NCC) Vice-Chairman Prof. Ali Riaz for pursuing his agenda of rewriting the Constitution.

“I think Dr. Yunus has his last chance now. He has already ruined his image a lot. He has set the country back a lot. I think his last chance is now to see if he can take the country back towards unity. If he sits quietly like before, lets them fight, and thinks that there will be no other option but himself, he is actually wrong. He is dreaming the wrong dream.”

There are some people around him who always persuade him, saying that Dr. Yunus has no option. “It is not like that. You are in a very bad position in the minds of the people. You are not able to run the country. And you are dividing the people of the country.”

Kamal thinks that Nobel laureate Yunus had the wisdom to unite the nation. “But if he doesn’t do it now, he will not be able to back down from this situation,” he said in his latest vlog on Saturday.

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The journalist said that after the fall of the Awami League government in August last year, they had thought that this time the nation would unite. To unite the nation, an apolitical person like Dr. Yunus was brought in. He had a positive image in the country.

“We thought that he would bring all the people, regardless of different party affiliations, unite qualified people and form a government and that government would hold an election in the country after a certain time and power would be transferred to the government elected through a democratic process. In the meantime, he would change the systems that make it easy for a person or the head of the government to become an autocrat later. This was the expectation.”

Who is Ali Riaz?

Journalist Kamal has also questioned the efficiency and agenda of Prof. Ali Riaz.

“What is in the July Charter? Why this division? We saw that the man who was basically given the responsibility of the July Charter, this gentleman, came up with a project before this reform work began. What was his project?”

He explained that Prof. Ali Riaz, who teaches in a US university, had been campaigning for a new Constitution, saying that the Constitution will not work, the 1972 Constitution is unamendable, meaning that there has to be a new Constitution.

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Kamal suggested that there could be some mistakes or anti-people, which may need to be amended. “He came up with this theory that the constitution has to be rewritten anew. Who came up with this? He is a political science teacher at a university abroad.

“Is he a constitutional expert? I have never heard of his name in my life. Does he have any special writings on the Constitution? I have never seen or heard of him in my life. He said that Dr. Yunus supports it, and he was given the responsibility of the Constitutional Reform Commission, and then he was given the responsibility of the National Consensus Commission.”

Where is the division?

After the commission was formed, it was seen that there was a national consensus, meaning that they agreed on 84 points, and among them, there are some points where the Constitution needs to be amended, for which Prof. Ali Riaz is talking about going to a referendum again.

He also says that the referendum means that those who will be elected through the national parliament elections will first be responsible for amending these constitutional issues. But beyond that, they cannot do anything else. If these 300 MPs themselves think that something new should be amended, they cannot do it. No one can go beyond his formula. This is his project.

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“He has messed up everything,” Kamal said about Prof. Ali Riaz.

He has drafted an order to implement the July National Charter. But the BNP has protested it, saying that the commission is actually creating discord among the nation in the name of consensus. That is, it has been drafted with things that were not agreed upon earlier, based on which the BNP signed the charter. The commission has also removed the notes of dissent put forward by the BNP.

For example, the BNP suggested that the members of the Upper House would be elected based on seats in the Lower House. Other parties, however, said that it has to be done proportionally to the votes received.

Kamal said: “I am not discussing good or bad. But BNP objected. So, it should have been written that the BNP objected to this issue. If you don’t write it down, will the people understand?”

Aftermath of the dispute

“What is the result of this dispute now? Look, now we see BNP, Jamaat-e-Islam and NCP saying such things against each other that it is clear that the unity between them has now been severely damaged,” Kamal said and cited some quotes of top BNP leaders.

BNP Standing Committee Member Salauddin Ahmed, who attended every meeting of the NCC, said at a program in Narayanganj on Saturday that before the elections, a party wants to divide the nation.

He also criticised Jamaat, saying that the people of this country are not followers of Maulana Abu Ala Maududi, the founder of the Pakistan-based Jamaat, but of Medina’s Islam.

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Meanwhile, Moazzem Hossain Alal, who is the adviser to BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia, has called for banning Jamaat for its role in the 1971 genocide.

Kamal said that the conflict over the July Charter is behind this rivalry between BNP and Jamaat.

“The conflict has now taken a serious shape. If it continues, will the nation ultimately move forward unitedly?”

Anti-liberation activities

Journalist Kamal then cited the statement of BNP Standing Committee Member Major (Retd) Hafiz Uddin Ahmed, a freedom fighter, a very senior politician and a cool-headed person, who has said that there is no need for the July Charter. The country needs a parliament, which will establish democracy.

Kamal said: “Simple words. What will happen to the July Charter now? Will there be a fight over who wants to implement the July Charter and who does not? There are many other things that Major Hafiz has said that he directly accused the government of.”

The BNP leader said that the interim government does not talk about the Liberation War anywhere and wants to make the freedom fighters forgettable. An attempt is being made to belittle the Liberation War of 1971. The country became independent after many sacrifices and hardships. No other movement can be compared to this struggle. This country was born through the Liberation War.

“This is the allegation made by Major Hafiz. Can you deny the allegation?” Kamal questioned, agreeing that this government is really trying to diminish the Liberation War from the people’s minds through various activities.

“Don’t you notice such a tendency among the advisers of this government? Yes, they are. So, they are bringing the mass uprising of 2024 parallel with the Liberation War…they are saying that it is the second independence, etc.

“These are not right. By saying these things, they are dividing the country again and again,” Kamal added.