Thousands attend rally in Bangladesh to mark 1st anniversary of 'July Uprising'

Thousands of people in Bangladesh on Tuesday joined a rally in Dhaka, marking the first anniversary of last year's student-led protest movement, dubbed the ''July Uprising'', that toppled longtime prime minister Sheikh Hasina.

Interim government chief Muhammad Yunus read out the "July Declaration" on the occasion in front of the Jatiya Sangsad or the Parliament complex, saying the Uprising Day should serve as a reminder that the struggle for a better future continues.

"The people of Bangladesh express their desire that the student-people uprising of 2024 will get proper state and constitutional recognition and that the July declaration will feature in the schedule of the reformed constitution as framed by the government formed through the next national election," Yunus said, reading from the declaration.

The Yunus-led interim government wanted to give constitutional recognition to the student-led uprising. This recognition is known as the July Declaration.

The over 1,000-word declaration described in detail the activities of the ousted "fascist" regime, adding that "therefore the people of Bangladesh express a strong desire" to bring the former rulers under trial for crimes of enforced disappearance and murder, individual and mass killings, and crimes against humanity.

"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.

Security forces enforced a strict vigil throughout the capital, with armoured vehicles patrolling the streets apparently to deter any attempt by Hasina's now-banned Awami League party to disrupt the day's events that included rallies, concerts, and prayer sessions.

However, apart from scattered political rallies, the streets of the capital were quiet amid inclement weather marked by incessant rains.

According to political analysts, the anniversary came as Hasina, now on self–exile in India, faces trial on charges like crimes against humanity while most of her colleagues in the cabinet and in her Awami League party are in jail or on the run at home and abroad. But political analysts said Bangladesh is far from political stability, a year after the bloody uprising that claimed hundreds of lives.

They said that despite the bloodshed, the prospect for a better Bangladesh with a liberal democracy, political tolerance, and religious and communal harmony remained a challenge.

"The hope of the thousands who braved lethal violence a year ago when they opposed Sheikh Hasina's abusive rule to build a rights-respecting democracy remains unfulfilled," New York-based rights group Human Rights Watch said in a statement on the eve of the anniversary.

Yunus was installed as Chief Adviser of the interim government on August 8 last year, three days after the ouster of the 16-year-long Awami League regime, when Hasina left the country in an air force helicopter escorted by army troops.

Recently, he vowed democratic reform amid pressure for the swift transition and expressed his plans to unveil the July Declaration to recognise the uprising.

But the declaration came two days after the National Citizen Party (NCP), a major SAD offshoot that emerged this year apparently with his blessings, came up with their manifesto for ''New Bangladesh''.

The manifesto called for the formation of a ''Second Republic'' and the adoption of a new constitution, scrapping the post-independence 1972 constitution.

The party vowed to frame a new constitution through a constituent assembly and recognise the July uprising.

Yunus, however, refrained from any comment on rewriting or scrapping the existing constitution, an issue which sparked tensions in recent months.

The demand saw firm opposition from ex-prime minister Khaleda Zia's Bangladesh Nationalist Party, which now appeared as the single largest political party in the absence of the Awami League.

"Together, we will build a Bangladesh where tyranny will never rise again,'' Yunus had earlier said in a statement coinciding with the anniversary. He added that a peaceful, fair, and transparent election could be held early next year.

Yunus said, "fallen autocrats and their self-serving allies remain active'' as he called for protecting the gains of the uprising.

His government is now holding reform talks with political parties and civil society.

The interim administration declared the Uprising Day anniversary a public holiday.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)