NCP voices dissatisfaction over July Declaration, alleges BNP influence

The National Citizen Party (NCP) has expressed dissatisfaction with the July Declaration, claiming it fails to reflect broader national consensus and instead echoes the BNP's agenda.

Ariful Islam Adeeb, the party's senior joint convener, told The Business Standard, "We were told the declaration would eventually be incorporated into the amended constitution's schedule. However, our demand — shared by several other parties — that the next election be held based on the July Charter was ignored. This effectively reflects the BNP's manifesto." 

He further said, "Many of our party leaders raised questions about how the declaration ceremony was managed. While several of our top leaders — who emerged from the anti-discrimination student movement — were invited, they were asked to attend as 'coordinators' rather than as representatives of the NCP. Even then, not all 158 coordinators received invitations, which led to reluctance among some leaders to attend."

July Declaration aspires for constitutional, state recognition of 2024 uprising

Responding to questions about internal disagreement, Adeeb clarified, "There is no division within the party on the issue. However, we believe the anti-British struggle should have been more seriously addressed in the declaration. There were also suggestions to declare a 'New Republic' or 'Second Republic' on 5 August, but these were excluded."

Echoing these concerns, another NCP leader said, "This declaration is unacceptable. Its content contradicts the core demands of our party."

Javed Rasin, joint convener of NCP, confirmed that the party is holding internal discussions on the matter and will soon issue a formal response through a press conference.

Meanwhile, Abdul Hannan Masud, a senior joint chief coordinator of the NCP and former leader of the Anti-Discrimination Student Movement, said, "Our party was represented by a delegation led by Nahid Islam. There was no official boycott of the event. The declaration is well-intentioned, but it would have been better if its implementation had begun on 5 August 2024."

Speaking from a personal perspective, Masud added, "I did not attend the event due to moral reasons. The recognition of the families of martyrs and injured activists, as well as the 158 former coordinators, was not adequately addressed."

Regarding the proposal to give the next parliament two years to implement the July National Charter, he said, "We will comment on that when the charter is formally prepared."

Earlier in the day, Chief Adviser Muhammad Yunus today read out the July Declaration that aspires for state and constitutional recognition of 2024 July mass uprising.

"This document of declaration is written to reflect the aspirations of the people of Bangladesh at the event of the victory in the mass uprising of August 5, 2024," Yunus said, reading out the written document.

The declaration also states "the people of Bangladesh express their desire to recognise the martyrs of the July uprising as national heroes and provide necessary legal protection to the students and people participating in the movement."