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Bangladesh
Constitution and the National Minorities
The Bangladesh constitution,
which was adopted on the 4th of November 1972 and came into
effect on16 December in the same year, begins with the Islamic
words "BISMILLAH-AR-RAHAMAN-AR-RAHIM" (In the
name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful). This was
inserted through the Proclamation (Amendment) Order, 1977
(Proclamation Order No. 1 of 1977). In fact, since its inception,
the constitution has undergone many amendments, the latest
one being the thirteenth amendment, and through this provisions
have been made for the installation of a Non-party Caretaker
government after the dissolution of the Jatyo Sangsad. Most
of the other amendments were made either to provide for absolute
power in the hands of a single party or to abridge civil and
political rights of the citizens of the country. Even for
the gratification of self-interest of some individual politicians
and army generals, the Supreme law of the land had to be cut
to size. The Sixth Amendment of the constitution is a case
in point. This change in the Constitution was made to favour
Abdus Sattar so that he could become eligible to stand as
the BNP candidate for 1981 presidential election. But it is
an irony that, when it comes to the question of the constitutional
recognition of the national minorities, this vary political
elite who brought about such changes and amendments refuse
to amend the constitution on the pretext that the national
minorities are insignificantly few in number. But what they
refuse to understand is the fact that it is for the greater
interest of the whole country, and not for a tiny section
of it, that such a constitutional amendment has become necessary.
However, due to all these
amendments the constitution has lost its original character
and it has been highly Islamised. In fact this process of
Islamisation of the constitution started during the rule of
Ziaur Rahaman with the insertion of Islamic words. But it
was General Hussain Muhammad Ershad who has completed this
process by declaring Islam as state religion through the Eighth
Amendment. Article 2A says, "The state religion of the
Republic is Islam, but other religions may be practiced in
peace and harmony in the republic". With this insertion,
one of the religions as practiced in this country has been
placed above the other ones, and discrimination and religious
prosecution against other religious groups intensified.
In the Preamble the constitution
declares that "absolute trust and faith in the Almighty
Allah, nationalism, democracy and socialism meaning economic
and social justice... shall be the fundament principle of
the Constitution". Further, in the chapter on fundamental
principles of state policy, article 8(1) says, "The principles
absolute trust and faith in the Almighty Allah, nationalism,
democracy and socialism meaning economic and social justice,
together with the principles derived from them as set out
in this Part, shall constitute the fundamental principles
of state policy".
Again clause 1A of the said
article provides that "Absolute trust and faith in the
Almighty Allah shall be the basis of all actions". One
can aptly ask: are the actions of the ministers and other
persons in the service of the state, who belong to religions
other than Islam, based on "absolute trust and faith
in the Almighty Allah?" Whatever the intention of these
amendments, at least theoretically, the non-Muslims are bound
by this article, and in their actions relating to the service
of the republic or the running of the state they are required
by the constitution to place their faith and trust in the
Almighty Allah. I do not know how the others would interpret
this article of the constitution. But so far I have never
seen any protest or objection being raised by any section.
It hardly needs to be mentioned
here that the Bangladesh constitution does not recognise the
distinct identities of the National minorities of the country.
After liberation, Manobendra Narayan Larma, one of the two
elected MPs from the CHT, submitted a memorandum to the Constitution
Committee headed by the then Law minister Dr. Kamal Hossain
and put forward the demand for regional autonomy. He also
fought for the just rights of the Jumma people in the Jatya
Sangsad and raised the demand for the recognition of the national
minorities of the Chittagong Hill Tracts. But his demand fell
on the deaf ears of the boastful Awami League leaders. Larma
refused to endore the draft constitution bill and walked out
of the house in protest.
When General Ershad brought
the Eighth Amendment into the constitution making Islam as
state religion, almost all the political parties worth the
name including Awami League and BNP protested against it,
and held that this went against the main spirit of the constitution
and impaired the secular image of the country. But it is irony
that when these two parties came to power in succession, none
took the initiative to repeal the Eighth Amendment.
The 1972 constitution made
provision to the effect that all the citizens of the republic
are Bengali. Article 6 of the original constitution says,
the citizens of Bangladesh shall be known as Bengalis. But
this article was changed later during the rule of Ziaur Rahaman,
who termed the citizens of the country as Bangladeshi. The
Bengali identity of the citizens created a lot of controversy
and debate, and the Jumma people in the Chittagong Hill Tracts
protested this and asserted that they are not Bengali, they
have their own identity, though as citizens of the country
they are Bangladeshi.
Thus it is quite clear that
the constitution discriminates against the national minorities
and does not reflect their hopes and aspirations. It is highly islamised and gives expression to the Bengali chauvinism.
It also gives preferential treatment to the Bengalis, the
dominant ethnic group, over the others.
Bangladesh is a multi-racial
multi-cultural heterogeneous country where a number of ethnic
minorities have been living side by side with the Bengalis
for centuries. It is expected that the constitution should
accommodate them and protect their rights by giving recognition
to their distinct identity and culture. We need such a constitution
which will provide equal footing to all the nations and national
minorities within this country and give them equal rights
so that no ethnic group would be able to enjoy special privilege
by virtue of its being majority. Only such a constitution
can be termed as democratic.
The article was published
in Bangladesh Observer on June 15, 2003 |
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