Left-leaning political parties have strongly opposed the Constitution Reform Commission鈥檚 proposal to exclude Article 150(2) of the constitution, particularly the seventh schedule, which contains Bangladesh鈥檚 proclamation of independence signed on April 10, 1971.
The reform commission on January 15 proposed scrapping the article and also the removal of the fifth, sixth and seventh schedules that contained key historical declarations and speeches linked to the nation鈥檚 independence.
The 166-point key reform proposals prepared by the National Consensus Commission, sent to 39 political parties on March 5, also included the proposals.
Till May 19, 33 political parties participated in the NCC-hosted dialogues on the key reform proposals.聽
Most of the left-leaning political parties opposed the proposals for the omissions, arguing that such exclusions undermined the foundational values of the Liberation War and the history of Bangladesh鈥檚 emergence.
The Socialist Party of Bangladesh (Marxist) chief coordinator Masud Rana said, 鈥楾hey [NCC] want to reform the constitution in the spirit of the 1971 Liberation War. Yet, they want to drop the very proclamation of independence. That is contradictory.鈥�
Parties, including the Bangladesh Nationalist Party, Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islam, newly floated National Citizen Party, Islami Andolan Bangladesh and Bangladesh Nezame Islam Party, agreed to the reform commission proposals.
The constitution鈥檚 article 150(2) declares that Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman鈥檚 March 7 speech, his March 26 declaration of independence, and the proclamation of independence announced by the Mujibnagar government on April 10, 1971 are recognised as foundational instruments of Bangladesh鈥檚 independence.
The seventh schedule, containing the proclamation of independence, formally declares the rationale for Bangladesh鈥檚 separation from Pakistan, the legitimacy of the Liberation War, and the constitutional foundation for the new nation, while it marks the beginning of Bangladesh鈥檚 sovereign governance based on equality, human dignity, and social justice.
During its talks with the NCC, the BNP delegation, led by Salahuddin Ahmed, agreed to the omission of Article 150(2) and the related three schedules but suggested that the exclusions should be done by the next parliament.
The Jamaat delegation, led by Syed Abdullah Muhammad Taher, also supported the exclusions and proposed a referendum to decide on the issue.
The NCP delegation, led by Sarwar Tushar, backed the proposals as well, recommending that they should be passed by a constituent assembly, to be acting afterwards as the national parliament.
Islami Andolan Bangladesh鈥檚 secretary general Yunus Ahmed Sheikh and Nezame Islam Bangladesh鈥檚 secretary general Musa Bin Izhar separately said that their parties supported the exclusions of the article 150(2).
On the other hand, left-leaning political parties, including the Communist Party of Bangladesh, SPB (Marxist), Revolutionary Workers Party Bangladesh, Bangladesh Samajtantrik Dal鈥揓asod, and Bangladesh Biplobi Communist League strongly opposed the omissions.
The BSD-Jasod presidium member Mushtuq Husain and CPB general secretary Ruhin Hossain Prince said that there was no scope of excluding the proclamation of independence from the constitution.
RWPB general secretary Saiful Huq said, 鈥楾he proclamation was the first formal document to claim international recognition for Bangladesh鈥檚 political justification for independence. This is an integral part of Bangladesh鈥檚 history.鈥�
BBCL general secretary Iqbal Kabir Jahid, also the coordinator of the Democratic Left Alliance, said, 鈥楾here is no way to deny this crucial document [proclamation of independence] of Bangladesh鈥檚 history. And this unelected government has no authority to reform the constitution.鈥�
