POBNEWS24, Dhaka, Jan 15, 2026 : The Advisory Council has approved the July Uprising Immunization Act to provide legal protection to the great heroes who exiled former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on August 5, 1924 and changed the fate of the mass graves and the fighters who participated in the July Uprising.
Legal Advisor Professor Asif Nazrul gave this information at a briefing organized on contemporary issues at the Foreign Service Academy in the capital on Thursday.
He said that if there are criminal cases against the July-August coup plotters, the interim government has decided to withdraw them. He even said that no new cases can be filed.
On the issue of referendum and reforms, he said that one of the expectations of the mass uprising is reforms. Regarding the referendum, we (the government) stand in favor of reforms, not for any party. You can say yes or no to the referendum. If the people want to remain oppressed like during the fascist era, then they can say no to the referendum. That is entirely a matter for the people.
The legal advisor reiterated the government’s previous position on the recent cricket atmosphere and Bangladesh’s participation in the T20 World Cup. He said, “We will not move from our position. Only if the venue for Bangladesh’s matches is Sri Lanka, then we want to play.”
Meanwhile, the Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami-led alliance is in a deadlock over the seat allocation for the National Assembly elections. The Islami Andolan Bangladesh, known as the second largest Islamist party in Bangladesh, did not attend the meeting on seat allocation on Thursday. In the end, in their absence, the Jamaat, the National Citizens Party (NCP) and representatives of their allied parties have unilaterally decided to declare candidates for 250 of the 300-seat National Assembly. 50 are being left for the Islami Andolan.
Present at the Jamaat headquarters in Moghbazar, Dhaka, were the party’s Naib-e-Amir Syed Abdullah Mohammad Taher, Assistant Secretary General and Coordinator of the 11-party alliance Hamidur Rahman Azad. Apart from this, National Citizen Party (NCP) convener Nahid Islam, Bangladesh Khilafat Majlis Amir Maulana Mamunul Haque, Secretary General Jalaluddin Ahmed, Khilafat Majlis Secretary General Ahmed Abdul Quader, AB Party Chairman Mujibur Rahman Manju, Bangladesh Khilafat Andolon Secretary General Yusuf Sadiq Haqqani, Bangladesh Nezami Islam Party Senior Naib-e-Amir Maulana Abdul Majed Athari, and Jatiya Ganatantrik Party (JAGPA) spokesperson Rashed Pradhan were present at the meeting.
According to the decision taken in the meeting, the Jamaat alliance may announce candidates for 250 seats on Thursday night or Friday morning. For the past few months, seven Islamist parties, Islami Andolan Bangladesh, Bangladesh Khelafat Majlis, Khelafat Majlis, Nejame Islam Party, Bangladesh Khelafat Andolan, Bangladesh Development Party and Jatiya Ganatantrik Party, have been jointly participating in various programs standing by Jamaat on various demands, including a referendum. Jamaat chief Shafiqur Rahman had announced an alliance with them in the next year’s parliamentary elections. But the distance between Jamaat and Islami Andolan is gradually increasing over the seat allocation. It is worth noting that the Bangladesh National Parliament elections will be held on February 12. The referendum on the July Charter will also be held on that day. Nominations have been submitted since December 12. It will continue until December 29. The work of examining the nominations was carried out from December 30 to January 4. The rejected candidates appealed against the decisions to cancel the nominations until January 11. The work of verifying the validity of those appeals began on January 12. It will continue until January 18. The final list of candidates will be published and the election symbol will be determined on January 21. The official election campaign will begin on January 22. It will continue until 7:30 am on February 10th.
