July Charter

The July National Charter (Bengali: জুলাই জাতীয় সনদ, romanized: Julāi Jātīẏô Sônôd) is a political declaration in Bangladesh based on the consensus between 30 political parties and the interim government over the constitutional, electoral and administrative reforms in the aftermath of the July Revolution. A preliminary draft of the charter was released on 28 July 2025, following a series of consultations involving the parties. These discussions were facilitated by the National Consensus Commission, a commission formed by the Chief Adviser Muhammad Yunus to draft the document. After further deliberation and review, the participating parties are expected to formally sign and adopt the final version of the charter. The charter consists of 28 points.^[1][2]

The commitments of the Charter include:^[3][4]

1. Ensuring its full implementation in accordance with public aspirations and sacrifices;
2. Enacting recommendations related to governance, the judiciary, elections, public administration, law enforcement, and anti-corruption through necessary constitutional amendments, legal revisions, or new legislation;
3. Completing these reforms within two years of the formation of a government elected after the Charter's formal adoption;
4. Establishing legal and constitutional safeguards throughout the implementation process;
5. Guaranteeing full legal and constitutional protection for the Charter's contents; and
6. Formally recognizing, within the Constitution, the historical significance of the 2024 pro-democracy movement and popular uprising that led to the Charter.

On 31 July 2025, protesters injured during the July-August mass uprising blockaded Dhaka’s Shahbagh intersection, demanding the immediate declaration of the "July Charter" and "July Declaration."^[5] The demonstration caused major traffic disruption, with participants vowing to continue until their demands are fulfilled.^[6][7]

While most of the political parties welcomed July Charter, some opposed it. Bangladesh Jammat-e-Islami expressed disappointment for not including the unlawful arrests, killing and torture of Islamic scholers and madrasa students.^[8] Meanwhile, Bangladesh Hefazot-e-Islam, a non-political group also expressed their disappointment on the July Charter for not including any mention of 2013 Shapla Chattar Protest.^[9] Bangladesh Nationalist Party and many more remained neutral but stated that it would benefit some parties even more, Indicating the student-led party National Citizen Party.^[10] BNP later opposed to give the July Charter constitutional recognition.^[11]