The New Nation - Internet Edition

M.T. Hussain

Airing rhetoric for reviving the 1972 Constitution of Bangladesh is nothing new in Bangladesh from a section of the political leaders that has, in reality, turned a cliché. But fresh airing of the issue at this stage could be somewhat unusual for the fact that the present Caretaker Government (CG) has nothing to in the matter, and if anything to be done that might be pursued only in the next 9th Parliament hopefully in 2009 not automatically but subject to many conditions and provisions laid down in the post 1975 Constitution amended on many accounts and as has been in force since then.

If one would be serious about the proposed revival, issues to be tackled and settled constitutionally in the matter are not one but many.

First, the 1972 Constitution was framed in 1972 that took a few months and ended by the end of 1972 officially by the first Parliament members of Bangladesh. The members, it is well known, belonged to the lone party, Bangladesh Awami League, not elected in independent Bangladesh but elected in pre- independence period in East Pakistan under the Pakistan Legal Framework Order (LFO) for framing the Federal Constitution of united Pakistan. But due to failure of the members to do their assigned task in midst and confusion of the war of independence of 1971, post independence government turned from provincial one to central entity constituted all those members as the members of Bangladesh Legislative Assembly. There was thus an inherent lapse in that the members had not been given any clear mandate by the people to frame the Constitution of independent Bangladesh, much less the four principles, Bangali nationalism, socialism, democracy and secularism included therein.

Secondly, from the previous lacunae emanated another issue, that is, the four principles had no clear consent of the people as no such mandate had been attained through popular participation as that could be done through referendum on the specific issues of the four principles or mandate in matters of people's real genuine wish and real aspirations. As nothing of the mandate taking was done, the people continued to suspect that they had been imposed through the officially known native framers by Delhi for their own axe to grind in perpetuity that they had been in a secured firm position to take full advantage of through the power India had for directly helping in the 1971 war to win and establish Bangladesh in the soil of East Pakistan outside the framework of one Pakistan. In fact, it was an open secret that Delhi wished to keep in perpetuity Bangladesh into their all round firm grip in all matters, the four constitutional principles being the start of their all embracing design for hegemony in the region and around.

Thirdly, fortunately for Bangladesh, the patriotic freedom fighters of Bangladesh did not take long time to discover Delhi's evil design on Bangladesh's identity, sovereignty and independence that led to the August and November 1975 putsch that ultimately led to the Fifth Amendment of the 1972 Constitution changing radically three of the four principles abandoning, secularism for Islamic basic beliefs, Socialism to social justice obviously based on Islamic beliefs and norms and Bangali nationalism to Bangladeshi nationalism to take the whole nation off from narrow ethnicity to broad geographical entity.

Fourthly, the Fifth Amendment did not come about arbitrarily but through normal constitutional process and by the required two-third majority in the duly elected Parliament of Bangladesh in early April 1979 following soon after the 1975 revolutionary changes. As it is today in late 2008, the country is run by the force of the Fifth Amendment, and no government of three shades since 1980s did dare to change the Fifth Amendment for the simple reason that popular aspirations of the people would not accede or respond to such romanticism.

The above realities should not, however, mean that some would not go for the romanticism. Contrarily some are heard to do the political rhetoric, no matter though as cliché one. Albeit they could go on doing so for they have constitutional right in freedom of expression. But reverting back to the 1972 Constitution so far as the basic four principles are concerned, there is no way to do so but only one in that the same constitutional process as it was done in early April 1979. Whether such romantic attempt would be acceptable to the overwhelming majority people of Bangladesh would remain to be seen as another matter.