Jagpa announces September protest prog
Staff Reporter :
The Jatiya Ganotantrik Party (Jagpa) has announced a series of protest programmes later this month to press home its seven demands, joining Islamist parties that have already declared similar actions.
At a press conference at the party’s Purana Paltan office yesterday, Jagpa Vice-President Rashed Prodhan said the party will stage a march in Dhaka on September 18, organise mass outreach campaigns in divisional cities on September 19, and hold marches across its organisational districts on September 26. He said the programmes were aimed at ensuring that the July Charter receives a legal foundation and that the next national election is conducted under its framework.
Rashed warned that the people’s expectations from the interim government were justice, reform and free elections, but instead they were witnessing preparations for what he described as a hurried national election without genuine change. He demanded the return of Sheikh Hasina from India to face trial, progress in cases related to killings, torture, oppression and corruption under the Awami League regime, and the disclosure and cancellation of all secret and unequal agreements signed with India during Hasina’s rule. He also called for banning the Jatiya Party and other groups formerly allied with the Awami League, holding elections under a proportional representation system with a proposed upper house, and creating a level playing field free from foreign influence.
The Jagpa leader argued that last year’s July Uprising was not only against Hasina and the Awami League but also against Indian hegemony, and he criticised the interim government for failing to take strong steps to free the country’s institutions from what he termed Indian-Awami dominance or to secure Hasina’s repatriation from New Delhi.
Jagpa’s announcement follows similar declarations from Jamaat-e-Islami and Islami Andolan Bangladesh, which yesterday revealed plans to stage rallies and marches in Dhaka on September 18, in divisional cities on September 19, and at the district and upazila levels on September 26. A day earlier, Bangladesh Khelafat Majlis also announced a three-day programme on the same dates to advance its own set of demands.
With Jagpa now joining Jamaat, Islami Andolan and Khelafat Majlis, September is set to see a wave of coordinated street protests, with multiple opposition forces pushing for elections grounded in the July Charter and for greater accountability from the interim government
