Constitution of 1972 to be restored
The parliament yesterday had an unscheduled discussion on Constitution Day with a call for restoring the 1972 constitution to uphold the spirit of liberation war, and to establish a secular democratic society.
Prior to the discussion, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina however told the House that the constitution of 1972 should be restored after bringing some amendments to it.
"We will consider sensitive issues while amending the constitution," she added without any further detail.
Participating in the discussion that began after the break for maghrib prayers, lawmakers said the original constitution of 1972 lost its basic structure as the military ruler following the August 15, 1975 regime change amended it to legitimise the takeover.
The discussants demanded restoration of the 1972 constitution and hoped that the Appellate Division of Supreme Court will uphold the High Court verdict that paved the way for restoration of the original constitution.
The issue was raised in the afternoon when Speaker Abdul Hamid at the beginning of the prime minister's question-answer hour informed the House that the country's constitution had been adopted by the erstwhile constituent assembly on November 4, 1972.
"Today is the constitution's adaptation day. A very few of the signatories are still alive and are members of the current parliament, I happen to be one of them," Hamid added.
Earlier, replying to lawmakers' queries in the afternoon, the premier said the constitution of 1972 reflected the people's desire after the liberation war. But unfortunately after 1975, unconstitutional forces amended the constitution abruptly to legitimise their power grab.
She said the country was pushed back through the violation of the constitution, otherwise the country would have seen more progress, and the nation would have stood with its head high in the world community.
After the break, the sitting resumed with Deputy Speaker Shawkat Ali in the chair. The deputy speaker suspended disposal of call attention notices and said a discussion on Constitution Day would go on from that point on due to demands of many lawmakers.
Then the unscheduled discussion began and lasted over an hour and a half. Nine ruling Awami League lawmakers including Deputy Leader of the House Syeda Sajeda Chowdhury participated in the discussion.
Awami League lawmaker Suranjit Sengupta said the High Court already delivered a historic verdict for restoration of the constitution of 1972.
"Now an appeal against the High Court verdict is pending with the Appellate Division of Supreme Court. We hope, the Appellate Division will soon adjudicate the appeal upholding the High Court verdict," he added.
No Jatiya Party lawmaker participated in the discussion. Former military ruler HM Ershad, who founded Jatiya Party which is now a component of the AL-led ruling alliance, had amended the constitution in an unconstitutional way to legitimise his military rule.
At the end of the discussion, the speaker said he had actually forgotten that yesterday was Constitution Day, but prior to the day's sitting, he was reminded of it which prompted him to speak about it in the House.
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