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Speakers, including teachers, lawyers, physicians, and labour rights activists, in a discussion on Saturday said that the interim government could not make a significant progress in reforms in past eight months in the country.

There are no signs of progress in the country’s judiciary, education, health, financial, and agricultural sectors as the sectors are going through various problems, they said.

The observation was made in a discussion titled ‘Eight months of the interim government: Role and Reform Proposals’, organised by Gonotantrik Odhikar Committee at the Economic Reporters Forum auditorium in the city on Saturday.

Addressing the event, former Jahangirnagar University economics professor Anu Muhammad said that some recommendations by reform commissions can be implemented by the interim government itself to demonstrate its commitment to reform.

‘But we are now unnecessarily caught in debates  about whether reforms should come before the next general elections or after,’ he said.

He posed a question as to why issues like legal reform, medical care for those injured during the July uprising, and compensation for the families of the deceased remain unresolved.

Every time issues like women’s inheritance rights or broader rights are raised, he went on, those holding discriminatory political ideologies in Bangladesh react with hostility.

‘Regardless of whether they practice religion or not, they quickly use religion as an excuse to oppose women’s rights,’ he said, adding that a dangerous level of violence is currently being fuelled over these issues.

Talking about the state of the judiciary, he said, ‘Many cases are being quickly dismissed and even murder accused are being released, but indigenous women and children from the Bom community are being imprisoned under false charges without bail, while the Harijan community also faces similar discrimination.

He criticised the judiciary for continuing to function under political influence, noting that it is often predictable who will get bail or acquittal before verdicts are delivered.

‘If political manipulation goes on in the judiciary, then where is the sign that this government is serious about reform?’ he asked.

In reference to long-pending cases like the killings of Twaqi, Tonu, and journalists Sagar and Runi, he said justice remains elusive for them even eight months after the interim government came into being.

Slamming the commercialisation of education and health care, Anu Muhammad regretted that policies are being devised under the influence of the World Bank, IMF, and ADB.

About the Constitution Reform Commission’s report, Anu Muhammad questioned as to how educated members of the commission could say that secularism is laying the foundation of fascism in Bangladesh.

He said, ‘The Awami League has betrayed secularism, misused the spirit of the Liberation War, and plundered public money to establish a fascist regime.’

He also criticised the commission’s report, which claimed socialism is anti-democratic, arguing that socialism should be compared with capitalism and democracy with authoritarianism.’

Lawyer Jyotirmoy Barua said, ‘The Constitutional Reform Commission justified retaining the state religion by citing that a vast majority of the respondents on its website and among stakeholders are in favour of this provision. However, it remains unclear who this ‘vast majority’ actually is, and it does not seem to be credible to us.’

He said, ‘When the autocratic Ershad government introduced the concept of a state religion through the Eighth Amendment, almost all political parties, including the BNP, AL, and Jamaat, opposed it.’

About crises in the healthcare system and their possible solutions, retired professor of Sir Salimullah Medical College Harun-ur-Rashid identified 16 necessary actions, including granting constitutional recognition to health as a fundamental right, formulating and implementing a people-oriented health policy, and increasing the health sector budget.

Dhaka University economics professor Moshahida Sultana Ritu said, ‘The interim government has scrapped the mid-term plan but has not adopted any new plan. As a result, everything continues to be run according to the old policies, and in many areas, stagnation has set in.’

Noting that the country’s agriculture sector is facing various problems, development researcher Maha Mirza said that farmers are committing suicide failing to get fair prices for their crops.