The newly-floated Bhasani Janashakti Party on Thursday recommended that Maulana Abdul Hamid Khan Bhasani, Abul Kasem Fazlul Huq, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, and Ziaur Rahman be named as the four founding fathers of the nation.
The party, which emerged on April 13 under the organisers of Bhasani Anusari Parishad, made this proposal while discussing key state reforms with the National Consensus Commission at the LD Hall of Jatiya Sangsad in the capital Dhaka.
Party chair Shiekh Rafiqul Islam Bablu led a 15-member delegation to the meeting chaired by NCC vice-chair Ali Riaz.
After the meeting, Bablu told journalists that his party sought separate roadmaps for the state reforms and the next Jatiya Sangsad elections.
鈥榃e have recommended that the constitutional reforms be implemented by the next parliament while the present interim government should implement the non-constitutional reforms through ordinances,鈥� Bablu said.
In the NCC meeting, the party recommended a five-year tenure for the government and the president, opposing the Constitution Reform Commission-proposed four years. It also opposed lowering the minimum age for the lawmakers to 21 years from 25.
鈥榃e have recommended constitutional recognition for the martyrs of both the 1971 Liberation War and the 2024 July uprising. We have also demanded full independence of the judiciary,鈥� Bablu said.
At the beginning of the meeting, NCC vice-chair Ali Riaz said that the stakeholders of the July uprising must build a system of governance through structural reforms so that future generations can regard Bangladesh as an ideal place to live in.
鈥楾he people of this country, especially the youth, should never again have to sacrifice their lives to claim their rights,鈥� Ali Riaz said.
Other members of the commission, including Badiul Alam Majumder, Justice Emdadul Haque, Safar Raj Hossain, Iftekharuzzaman, and the chief adviser鈥檚 special assistant Monir Haidar, were present in the meeting.
