End debate over July Charter implementation
LGRD and Cooperatives Minister and BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir on Sunday called for an end to the debate surrounding the implementation of the July Charter, saying the issue should be resolved through political dialogue.
He alleged that attempts were being made to create confusion over the charter.
Fakhrul made the remarks at the “July Martyr Journalist Honouring Ceremony,” organised by the National Editors Council at the Institution of Engineers, Bangladesh, in Dhaka.
Urging opposition parties to join the Constitution Amendment Committee, he said discussions were necessary to settle the dispute and implement the opportunity created by the July Movement to build a new state.
“We are confident that we will be able to establish a state based on justice. The government is working to fulfil the commitments made by the BNP,” he said. Fakhrul said parliament should introduce a system through dialogue that would prevent future generations from having to resort to violence to realise their demands.
He also urged opposition lawmakers to abandon the practice of opposing every government initiative.
Referring to what he described as a culture of flattery in different institutions, including the media, Fakhrul said major reforms were needed.
He added that the country could not be freed from the consequences of 16 years of wrongdoing within such a short period.
Among others, Mokarram Hossain, Editor of the English daily New Nation; Shafiqul Alam, Editor of Daily Wadaa and former Press Secretary to the Chief Adviser of the interim government; Maruf Kamal Khan Sihel, Editor of daily Protidiner Bangladesh, Salahuddin Muhammad Babar, Editor of Daily Naya Diganta, Kader Gani Chowdhury, Secretary General of the Bangladesh Federal Union of Journalists (BFUJ), Bachir Jamal, Managing Director of the Bangladesh Journalists’ Welfare Trust, Shamsi Ara Jaman, mother of martyred journalist Tahir Jaman Priyo, and Farhana Popy, wife of martyred journalist Mehedi Hasan, also spoke at the programme.
