Protest by the Anti-discrimination movement that happened in Dhaka, Bangladesh. File
| Photo Credit: AP
On the last day of the year, the Anti-Discrimination Students Movement of Bangladesh and other constituents of the July-August political uprising in the country will launch a ‘July proclamation’ that will “bury the 1972 constitution of Bangladesh”, the conveners of the Anti Discrimination Students Movement announced on Sunday (December 29, 2024).
Addressing a press conference in Dhaka convener Hasnat Abdullah said the proclamation should have been released earlier and that the delay in announcing it has given chance to Sheikh Hasina and her supporters to question the uprising.
The announcement is a significant development in the turbulent year in which Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s government was overthrown in a movement that was led by the Anti-Discrimination Students Movement. “At 3 pm, 31 December, we will declare the proclamation of July revolution. This will be the announcement of Bangladesh’s next goals, dreams and intentions. The declaration of 31 December at the Shahid Minar will be a legal recognition of the July Revolution. We want the Mujib-badi constitution should be buried,” said Mr. Abdullah.
A draft of the ‘July proclamation’, shared on the occasion by the organisers of the press event, held the constitution responsible for multiple problems the country has faced in recent years including the strong-arm rule by Ms. Hasina. “We resolve that we need a political settlement altering the ’72 and 1/11 Settlements, which will pave the way for a new democratic republic,” the draft document stated. It further said, “We want reform or annulment of the ’72 constitution as it has sustained fascism in Bangladesh. The Interim Government, duly constituted, will be entrusted with reforms of the institutions and constitution.”
Following Ms. Hasina’s departure, Bangladesh has been under the Interim Government led by Prof. Mohammad Yunus but the students and other protesters have continued to play an important role in shaping the agenda of the government through ADSM, National Citizens Committee, and the July Martyrs Memorial Foundation.
The July Declaration, shall be “deemed to have come into effect from 5th August of 2024”. Later in the day, Hasnat Abdullah further said in a social media post, “Return of Awami politics will have be made impossible. Indian hegemony has to be ended. We will have to build independent, sovereign, self-dependent Bangladesh. A society of equity and insaf has to be built in Bangladesh.”
The announcement of the event on 31 December by the ADSM came even as a commission constituted by the interim government is already deliberating on reforming the constitution that was written in 1972 in the backdrop of the country’s violent birth in December 1971. It is understood that the demand for “annulment” of the constitution by the ADSM may ultimately become an important input for the commission which is being led by Prof Ali Riaz of Illinois State University.
The 1972 constitution adopted under the leadership of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman has been amended on multiple occasions but the constitution has more or less survived all criticisms including the military rules of President Ziaur Rahman and General Hossein Mohammad Ershad. The constitution came into effect on 16 December 1972, a year after Bangladesh was born.
The announcement for the annulment of the present constitution of Bangladesh by the Anti Discrimination Students Movement has turned 31 December into a day of heavy political activities in Dhaka which will also witness a major public meeting by the Islami Chhatra Shibir of Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami. The student wing of the Jamaat-e-Islami will hold its national council in Suhrawardy Udyan starting in the morning. The last time Islami Chhatra Shibir which faced heavy crackdown during the Hasina era, held an open council meeting was in 2010.
Published – December 30, 2024 10:40 am IST
