The July Charter: A Secular Project Betraying the People of Bangladesh

News:

The National Consensus Commission’s proposal to issue an “implementation order” for the July National Charter (constitutional reform), and to hold a referendum on its basis, has triggered divisions among political parties, as well as disagreement among jurists over its legal foundation. The dispute cuts two ways. Politically, over whether the order should be issued by the president or by the chief advisor to the interim government; and legally, over whether such an order and referendum are possible at all under the current constitutional framework (bdnews24.com, “Legal and political storm brews over July Charter: who has the power to issue order, and under what law?”, 1 November 2025).

Comment:

The National Consensus Commission has failed to resolve the divisions over the July National Charter, instead exposing its fundamental flaws. The charter, rather than uniting Bangladesh, is a divisive document that betrays the people of Bangladesh. The charter focuses more on structural democratic and governance reforms, as if the people of Bangladesh shed their blood against Hasina for democratic reforms! The charter’s preamble invokes the "intent of the people" during the popular uprising, yet glaringly omits any mention of Islam that is woven into the very fabric of our Ummah. This is a historical falsehood. It falsely frames the uprising as a purely secular project, erasing the Islamic aspirations of many youths and masses that fueled the struggle to topple the Hasina regime.

This confirms the charter as a tool of the Western-backed interim government to eradicate any space whatsoever for normative political Islam systematically. It sends a chilling message: to participate in politics, one must shed one's authentic Islamic identity for a state-approved, secularist version.

The ensuing political squabbling is just the symptom of this flawed foundation. Secular politics in Bangladesh has a long history of fragmentation and failure. It reduces governance to a power-hungry game, a rat race where the only debate is about the mechanics of power, never its ultimate purpose in serving Allah (swt) and establishing justice in His Light. The debate over the July Charter is not about a national vision; it is a squabble among elites over who gets to sit at the head of the same decaying table. We cannot afford this cycle anymore. The ousting of Hasina was necessary, but the interim government's betrayal, as well as the treachery and incompetence of the previous governments/political parties, confirm a deeper truth: we don't need a new government; we need a new system. Bangladesh yearns for real change—an alternative politics and way of life.

We cannot keep applying the same failed secular-democratic plaster to a wound that requires a fundamental cure. Bangladesh is desperately waiting and yearning for an alternative politics, an alternative ruling system, an alternative leadership, and an alternative way of life. The people are exhausted by the empty promises of man-made systems that prioritize power over principle, and party over people. The time has come to look beyond this democratic debacle. The real change we seek will not be found in the clauses of a flawed charter or the halls of a secular parliament. It lies in embracing a system that unites us under our shared faith, a system that offers divine justice, genuine compassion, and a leadership model that serves the people, not its own interests. Bangladesh is not waiting for another secular party; it is waiting to embrace the real change that can only come under the guidance of Islam, and the establishment of a righteous Caliphate that follows the pristine model of the method of Prophethood. That is the only charter we need, and the only future that promises true liberation.

Written for the Central Media Office of Hizb ut Tahrir by
Irtiza Chowdhury – Wilayah Bangladesh