Bangladesh's pluralism must stay intact, says head of Constitution reforms panel

In Short
- Ali Riaz leads Bangladesh's Constitutional Reforms Commission.
- The Constitution is complex with 153 articles.
- Recommendations include bicameralism and Article 70 changes.

Professor Ali Riaz, a Bangladeshi-American political scientist and writer, has one of the toughest jobs at hand. The Muhammad Yunus-led interim government of Bangladesh has tasked him to head the country’s Constitutional Reforms Commission. His job is to review the founding document and recommend changes or revisions.

With 153 articles, 11 parts and four schedules, the Bangladesh Constitution is perhaps one of the most complex in the subcontinent. But Riaz and his team do not want to leave any stone unturned in their endeavour to make it more inclusive and democratic.

Sitting in his office situated in the Parliament complex in Dhaka, with a portrait of Abu Sayed—one of the key martyrs of the July-August uprising that saw the ouster of the Sheikh Hasina government—Riaz, in an interview with INDIA TODAY, shares how he is making things happen and what he thinks is the way forward for Bangladesh.

Q. There is much debate and curiosity over whether Bangladesh is just revising its Constitution or rewriting it altogether.
A. It is difficult to limit the scope of this work by either calling it revising or rewriting. In fact, it is a bit of both. There are some articles which need to be completely omitted or replaced. In other cases, just change of words here and there will suffice.

Our mandate is to make the document slim and understandable. Finally, it belongs to the people. If it is worded in a difficult manner, with legal jargons and complexities, the common man will not understand it. Which is why our recommendation will be to keep it simple.

Our task can be divided into two stages. First, we reviewed the Constitution. We checked and debated on how it has been analysed in the 53 years of our independence. Now comes the question of jurisprudence: what were its anomalies, what changes must it go through etc.

The second stage includes recommending changes and revisions. We have been asked to submit our reports by December 31. But I told the government that since I took charge on October 7, three months for me concludes on January 6, and I will utilise the full duration. (Laughs)

Q. The uprising has been linked to people’s demand for an accountable and democratic government. What kind of Parliament will the commission recommend for the country?
A. Many of the stakeholders and experts we met during our course of work have suggested that we recommend bicameralism, which means that there will two separate houses of the legislature, like in the United Kingdom, United States of America or India. We have studied this system prevalent in different countries. In the US, both houses are equals to each other, but in India the Rajya Sabha is the Upper House whereas the Lok Sabha is the lower one. We are debating the prospects and our final recommendation will come in time.

On the other hand, it is imperative that Article 70 of our Constitution must be changed. It prevents free voting by the members by crossing the floor in Parliament. Members lose their seats if they vote against their party. This helps the ruling party to use the article as a rubber stamp for its actions and the Parliament will never be able to hold a no-confidence vote to remove the prime minister. This has to change. The members must be empowered to exercise their free will, so that the rulers remain accountable to the House. Then in 2011, through the 15th amendment, one-third of the Constitution was made unamendable. This rigidity has to be checked and we are looking into it.

Q. What about the Preamble? It mentions “a historic struggle of national liberation” referring to the Liberation War.
A. Of course, the spirit of the Muktijuddho or the war of liberation will be there. But this piece of land has had a longer history of struggle. People of Bengal have put up valiant fights against all kinds of invaders, including the British. Why shouldn’t this spirit be mentioned there as well?

And of course, the July-August uprising led by the students and common people must be respected duly by mentioning it in the preamble. After all, this revolution facilitated the need and chance for the constitutional reforms for a better and new Bangladesh. That will be our recommendation.

Q. Will Bangladesh remain a secular country with an official state religion, which is Islam?
A. Let me tell you something. In one of my courses I have to teach my students that about 25 per cent of the world’s nations have a state religion. This doesn’t stop them from being secular. Even my students were shocked to know this.

As for secularism, I think the word has been misinterpreted in the Bengali version of our Constitution. Secularism is a philosophy. Let us not get bogged down by this play of words. What we are saying is that the pluralistic nature of Bangladesh must stay intact at all costs. Its inclusive approach cannot be meddled with, since it is our foundation. No individual can or should have an upper hand because he belongs to the majority community. Everyone, every single individual, must and will remain equal.

Q. What about the fundamental principles of “nationalism, socialism, democracy and secularism” that guided the last Constitution?
A. Our declaration of independence, drafted in 1971, had mentioned three very key features that should’ve been our guiding light. Equality, social justice and human dignity; these were mentioned in the declaration of independence but nobody remembers that because a year later, these were replaced by nationalism, socialism, democracy and secularism.

I think, equality, social justice and human dignity should be our fundamental principles.

Q. When this commission was constituted, it faced a backlash for not including any member from the minority communities.
A. I admit there has been a mistake. I cannot deny that. But tell me something, would their participation have ensured justice in their favour? It is about the intent and our intention is to treat them equally.

Q. Finally, how are you managing this huge task?
A. It is not just me. I have a fantastic team of professors, researchers and others who are doing this job for me. In fact, of the nine members of the team—including me—only two professors from Dhaka University knew each other beforehand. Otherwise, none of us knew each other. But we worked as team.

It has not been easy. But it has been fascinating. We have taken recommendations from 26 political parties and three alliances in writing, received over 50,000 recommendations through our website, met more than 30 civil society organisations, nine constitution experts, 11 student and cultural activists, and received their suggestions.

The Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics has done a survey for us, reaching out to 46,000 households and collating their suggestions and views. I’ve a team of 15 people and nine researchers, who are working pro bono, to identify the articles that need to be looked into. We have cross-examined the constitutions of all member-countries of the United Nations, which have a population size of 10 million people or more. Additionally, we have referred to the constitution of countries with smaller population size, such as Singapore. It has been a humongous process. The results that you would see is a culmination of a collective, well-debated and well-researched process.

There is a reason why all of us are going through this. (Points to the portrait of Abu Sayed) It is him and the people like him who gave us this freedom. We owe it to these martyrs to do our job with honesty and hand our country a constitution that will be for all of us. I keep his portrait as a reminder.

News Courtesy:

India Today | December 12, 2024