The remaining weeks of June and the month of July may usher in dramatic and unprecedented political developments in Bangladesh. Muhammad Yunus is swiftly advancing his agenda of establishing himself as an oppressive ‘Sultan’ of a so-called ‘Second Republic’ by nullifying the nation’s existing 1972 Constitution. Central to this transformation is the impending “July Declaration”, which, if enacted, would effectively convert Yunus’s “interim government” into a “revolutionary government”. Once the Constitution is scrapped, Yunus will acquire unchecked authority to dismiss President Muhammad Shahabuddin and Army Chief General Waker Uz Zaman, replacing the Bangladesh Armed Forces with his envisioned “Islamic Revolutionary Army” (IRA). Bangladesh could thus be hurled into the dark abyss of a radical Islamic Caliphate – far more oppressive than Khomeini’s Iran, Pakistan’s militarized Islamism, or Erdoğan’s autocratic Turkey.

Yunus has already hinted at this ominous transformation, claiming that his regime is working on a comprehensive ‘July Charter’ – a set of reform proposals allegedly agreed upon by all political parties – that will be presented to the nation. According to him, this charter will lay the foundation for a “welfare-oriented state”, and signatories will pledge to implement its radical reforms.

Yet only months earlier, in December 2024, Yunus’s press office vehemently denied any association with the July Declaration, calling it a “private initiative unrelated to the interim government”. This deliberate obfuscation was likely a strategic maneuver to avoid early scrutiny while preparing the ground for a sweeping power grab.

Prominent leaders of the National Citizen Party (NCP) – a core ally of Yunus -have been more candid. Hasnat Abdullah described the July Declaration as an instrument to render the Awami League irrelevant, comparing it to Nazi forces, and marking the “burial of the........

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