The Falsely-Touted “July Charter”— A Desecration of Bangladesh’s Sacred Soul

On 17th October 2025, a dark stain was inked into the sacred scroll of Bangladesh’s history.

Under the blinding lights of the South Plaza of the Jatiya Sangsad Bhaban—the very sanctum of our sovereign will—the evilest Dr. Muhammad Yunus, hand in hand with a motley assembly of foreign patrons, anti-liberation actors, and 24 treacherous political parties, staged a grotesque farce under the title of the “July Charter.” What unfolded there was not an act of reform, nor of democratic renewal—it was a desecration. It was a black chapter written in deceit, a betrayal to the blood-soaked foundation upon which our beloved Bangladesh was born.

To every Bangladeshi whose veins still pulse with the memory of 1971, the spectacle was nothing less than an outrage. That hallowed ground—the National Parliament Bhaban—designed by Louis Kahn as a monumental symbol of democracy, was defiled by men who stand against the very ideals that inspired its creation. The same structure that once echoed with the triumphant voice of freedom, “Joy Bangla!”, was transformed into a theater of hypocrisy, where those who never believed in our Liberation War pretended to speak for its heirs.

Dr. Yunus and his coalition of self-proclaimed reformers—an unholy alliance of the defeated forces of 1971, foreign agents of destabilization, and domestic opportunists—presented their so-called Charter as a roadmap to “national unity and economic restoration.” But what it truly represents is a sinister design to rewrite the moral and ideological DNA of Bangladesh. Their document reeks not of progress, but of regression; not of patriotism, but of servitude. It is, in essence, a mockery of the Constitution of 1972, the supreme embodiment of our nationhood, drafted from the ashes of genocide and the dreams of martyrs.

A Betrayal of the Liberation War

The July Charter stands as an affront to the supreme law of the land. Article 1 of the Constitution of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh declares unequivocally:

“Bangladesh is a unitary, independent, and sovereign Republic and shall be known as the People’s Republic of Bangladesh.”

The Charter, however, seeks to dilute this very sovereignty by inviting the tutelage of external actors and international agencies under the guise of “transitional governance.” By doing so, it attempts to return Bangladesh to the era of dependency and external domination from which we fought so valiantly to escape.

Article 8 of the Constitution enshrines the Fundamental Principles of State Policy, the first of which is nationalism, democracy, socialism, and secularism—the four guiding beacons that shaped the nation forged in 1971. Yet, the July conspirators dare to speak of “restructuring national ideology” to accommodate reactionary elements, including those who collaborated with the Pakistani occupation army and violently opposed independence of Bangladesh.

Can there be a greater blasphemy against the memory of our three million martyrs? Can there be a deeper insult to the mothers and sisters violated in 1971?

The ghost of the defeated collaborators now roams freely in the corridors of power, blessed and legitimized by Dr. Yunus’s “inclusive” politics. To include them, he says, is to foster reconciliation. But reconciliation without justice is not peace—it is submission. It is moral treason.

Desecrating the Sanctity of the Parliament

The Parliament is not merely a building—it is a monument to the people’s sovereignty. When it was inaugurated, it symbolized the triumph of democracy over tyranny, of people’s power over the bayonet. To use its steps for political spectacle orchestrated by those who have trampled on democratic norms is an insult to the very notion of representation.

Dr. Yunus and his entourage of anti-liberation entities have made a mockery of that sanctum. Their theatrical performance at the South Plaza on 17th October 2025 was no different from staging a carnival of betrayal on the graves of our martyrs. The National Parliament Bhaban, which once witnessed Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman’s immortal words—“The struggle this time is the struggle for our emancipation! The struggle this time is the struggle for our independence!”—has now been turned into a platform for the shameless.

If Bangabandhu were alive today, his heart would have shattered at this desecration. For it was his vision that gave us the Constitution of 1972—a living charter of freedom, democracy, and social justice. To see his creation mocked by those who once rejected it is to witness history weep.

The Return of the Collaborators

Among the signatories of this vile “Charter” are representatives of parties that actively collaborated with the Pakistani occupation forces in 1971—those who still glorify war criminals and seek to erase our liberation ethos from the national psyche. They have now resurfaced, emboldened by Yunus’s Western protectors, peddling their venom under the banner of “national reconciliation.”

Their agenda is transparent: to dismantle the Liberation legacy, to delegitimize the Constitution of 1972, and to rewrite our history in the language of the defeated. The inclusion of Jamaat-e-Islami and other anti-state elements in Yunus’s coalition exposes the true face of this farce—it is not a movement for reform, but for revenge.

As Thomas Jefferson once warned: “When injustice becomes law, resistance becomes duty.”

Indeed, the patriotic people of Bangladesh now face such a moment of duty. The July Charter seeks to impose a regime of injustice—one that glorifies traitors and vilifies the true architects of independence.

A Puppet Show in the Name of Reform

Behind this so-called Charter stands the invisible hand of foreign manipulation. The presence of foreign diplomats and envoys at the South Plaza on that shameful day was not incidental—it was intentional. It was a display of external validation for an illegitimate political project aimed at subverting the will of the Bangladesh’s people.

As history teaches us, no nation that has sold its sovereignty to foreign interests has ever retained its dignity. The Charter thus becomes a puppet script written in alien ink, directed by those who view Bangladesh not as a sovereign nation but as a geopolitical pawn.

This travesty brings to mind Bangabandhu’s warning, delivered at the height of our struggle:

“No power on earth can keep Bangladesh subjugated. The people of this land will not bow their heads to any tyranny.”

Yet here we stand—faced with a new tyranny, not of military occupation, but of deceitful diplomacy.

Violation of the 1972 Constitutional Spirit

The Constitution of 1972 is not just a legal document—it is the moral covenant of a free people. Its Preamble declares:

“We, the people of Bangladesh, having proclaimed our independence on the 26th day of March 1971 and through a historic struggle for national liberation, establish the independent, sovereign People’s Republic of Bangladesh.”

The July Charter attempts to undo this historic proclamation. It proposes “transitional governance frameworks” that undermine the sovereignty vested in the people, transferring authority to unelected technocrats and foreign consultants under the pretext of reform. This is nothing short of a coup by contract—an attempt to privatize our democracy and outsource our independence.

It is, therefore, a crime not only against the State but against the soul of the Republic itself.

The Moral Reckoning

The perpetrators of this betrayal may cloak themselves in the language of peace and unity, but their actions reek of arrogance and deceit. History will not forgive them. The people of Bangladesh, who have endured rivers of blood to achieve freedom, will not accept a counterfeit vision of democracy imposed by traitors and their foreign patrons.

To those who signed the so-called July Charter, let it be said clearly: your ink is tainted with the blood of our three million martyrs of 1971. Your smiles on that day were the grins of Judas at the Last Supper.

As Abraham Lincoln once proclaimed:

“You can fool some of the people all of the time, and all of the people some of the time, but you cannot fool all the people all the time.”

The people of Bangladesh are awake. They will not be fooled.

A Call to Conscience

The desecration at the South Plaza must be remembered as a day of mourning—a black day in the annals of our Republic. But let it also serve as a clarion call for national unity against treachery. Let every Bangladesh’s people reaffirm faith in the eternal values of our Constitution—nationalism, democracy, socialism, and secularism—and vow to protect them from the hands of impostors.

The spirit of 1971 still burns bright in the hearts of millions. No charter, no conspirator, and no foreign power can extinguish that flame.

Let the echo of our ancestors guide us once more: Joy Bangla, Joy Bangabandhu—Bangladesh will never kneel before traitors again.

Written by: Anwar A. Khan 

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