Reforms must begin with our constitution

The student's movement against discrimination turned into a one-point movement for the fall of the government and finally the government toppled in face of the student-people's movement. One of the aspirations of the movement was the fall of the Hasina government. But many more aspirations of the people have emerged. What, in your view, are these aspirations?

Salimullah Khan: If we look into the reason behind the fall of the Hasina government, then a picture of people's aspirations emerge. The first fault of the Hasina government is that during her rule, from 2009 up till 5 August 2024, she was elected in the first term perhaps. The three elections of the next three terms were flawed. That is why the people know that this was an unelected government. In a republic like ours, the only way the people can exert their ownership of the state is by means of elections. If even that is snatched away, then what other choice do people have but to topple the government that forcefully remains in power!

In order to legitimise their rule, the government of Sheikh Hasina that forcefully remained in power had two narratives. They had a one-party projection of the 1971 liberation war. I would say this narrative is a half-truth, which is even more dangerous that an entire untruth. Secondly was the development narrative. If one assesses how far the people benefitted from such development, one will see they benefitted very little. It did not lessen the income disparity in the country. On the contrary, it increased it. It is true that there has been some eye-catching development in the country, but the people did not swallow Hasina's development narrative.

Here I would like to criticise the economists to an extent. Their benchmark of development has proven to be wrong and the people's frustration and dismay simply increased. Above all, the deprivation has increased. It was unemployment that sparked off the anti-discrimination movement.

Coming to the point of public aspirations, I would say that each and every person aspire self-respect. The worst part of the Hasina government was totally overlooking the opinions of the people. They humiliated the people at every step. The second bad thing they did was completely violating people's material interests. Through the Cyber Security Act and the latest law they enacted, the ability to criticise the government in any way was snatched away. This shows that the Hasina government was not representational in the real sense of the word.

An interim government has been installed. What would you say are the immediate duties of this government as well as the long-term tasks?

Salimullah Khan: Hasina had remained in power by means of the oppression, injustices of her previous rules and the fear that has been generated among the people due to the unity between BNP and Jamaat. Hasina capitalised that fear. People would say, what if BNP comes to power if Hasina exits! This can be called a vacuum of balance. There is a space between the earth and the moon where astronauts become weightless. The last government existed in such a standstill. BNP was Hasina's capital.

Over the last 15 years BNP launched many movements but failed to succeed. That reason was that there were many tensions within BNP itself. BNP is not a political party but a conglomeration of several parties. BNP is a sort of party, but it is centered on a family and an individual. The students succeeded because they managed to attract the people. BNP failed to attract the people. The students managed to do so not with any supernatural powers, but by dint of their courage and their farsightedness. The Hasina government also recognised the power of the students and so did not hesitate to shoot them in their chests. Such gunfire in any country draws the people into the movement.

Also, unemployment had mounted high in the country. People were faced with difficult financial predicament. And then when the picture of rampant financial corruption was exposed, that stripped the Hasina government bare before the people. Under such circumstances, a single spark set off a raging fire. And that is what happened in Bangladesh in July-August.

The interim government has come to the helm with the student's movement as its capital. The student brought forward the world renowned Muhammad Yunus as an unbiased person. The government hasn't even completed one month yet. The list of tasks that the interim government can carry out can be divided into two. Firstly, to clear out the mess created by the previous government and the government before and the one before that. All this must be cleaned up. The second task is to propose building up something anew. There is debate over whether this government has the mandate to come up with a new system or not. Another important question is how far reforms can be carried out before the next election. Elections and reforms are inter-dependent. There can't be elections without reforms and the authority to carry out reforms won't be there without an election. This dilemma exists.

So where to begin? The beginning must come from history, from the events that have transpired. There has been a political uprising in the country.  That had public support. It was through this uprising that the Awami League government was overthrown, that the prime minister fled and the people gave the students legitimacy. This was an alternative to elections. This alternative is temporary. How long this will be also depends on the people's wishes. It cannot be determined in advance. The people feel that unless the institutions that have been destroyed by the previous government are repaired even to a minimum degree, it will not be possible to hold a neutral election.

Two factors are to be taken into consideration here. If the election is held before the election system is properly in place, it will be extremely damaging. Then again, after everything is fixed and the elections are not held for a long time, the consequences will be even worse. It is the people who will decide the right time for the election.

There is a strong call from all quarters for state reforms. Where are the reforms required? What sort of reforms should be carried out?

Salimullah Khan: Reforms must begin with our constitution. Whoever ascends to power becomes an ogre. That is why in 1990 after the fall of the Ershad government, the four alliances who had conducted the movement reached a consensus that for as long as necessary, all elections will be held under the supervision of a caretaker government.

Certain problems appeared in holding elections under a caretaker government. The problems were brought on by BNP in 1996. Later BNP amended the constitution in such a manner that the retirement age of justices was extended from 65 to 67. BNP must historically bear this liability. And Awami League took on the liability multiple times more by means of the 13th amendment to the constitution. They abolished the caretaker system. What Awami League did, can be termed as a constitutional abortion. This is the root of today's crisis. This first must be resolved.

Sheikh Hasina's last misdeed was banning Jamaat-e-Islami by means of executive order. The interim government has cancelled that. Concerning the matter of banning Awami League, the attorney general has said that they will not do that. It then seems that Awami League will also be able to participate in the next election. Of course if anyone is proven to be guilty of a grievous offence, he or she will not be able to contest in any election. There is room for further discussion on the matter.

Once the election is held under the interim government, the elected representatives will come to power. If we want to start political reforms, then first we must take up the task of economic reforms. Economic reforms and political reforms are two sides of the same coin.

Is there any guarantee that the elected government will accept the reforms carried out by the interim government?

Salimullah Khan: We all say that the biggest lesson we learn from history is that no one learns from history. Before the election all political parties must have a manifesto or commitment that they will accept the fundamental reforms of the interim government. This will work on the lines of a legal framework. For example, no one can go to power and then abolish the caretaker government system. We noted a problem in the caretaker government system. There was a time when we thought that the judiciary was a neutral place. But that neutrality of the judiciary was damaged by the caretaker government. There was a time when we thought the army was a neutral force of the state. No we see there are questions about their neutrality too.

Many demand that unconstitutional forces like RAB should be revoked. The formation of RAB goes against the fundamental principles of the constitution. Whether it is RAB, DB or the police, no citizen can be detained for more than 24 hours without charges. This applies to the Directorate General Defence Forces (DGFI) too. The armed forces of the country must have an intelligence unit. But if what the former chief justice SK Sinha said was true, then the people will have to take a decision regarding DGFI too.

Gunfights and crossfire are nothing but indiscriminate killings, countless killings, wide-scale killings and these must stop. An inquiry commission has been formed regarding enforced disappearances. We welcome this. It is unimaginable that enforced disappearances and extrajudicial killings can take place in an independent country. We used to hear that enforced disappearances take place in occupied countries. Yet we have not been able to determine the basic reason behind why there are so many indiscriminate killings and enforced disappearances in our independent country. The manner in which wealth and assets have been amassed over the past 50 years in our country also has direct foreign involvement.  And that has sent the state out of control

I think the second task in reforming the constitution will be to prevent the enactment of any such laws that violate fundamental rights. If necessary, proper amendments must be made to the constitution. The present constitution also has a history of amending fundamental rights, but that is never made effective. The gap between declaration and actual implementation must be closed. We can follow the American constitution in this regard. The first 10 amendments (or bill of rights) there are not amendable. Freedom of speech, freedom of movement, the right to assemble, are all recognised as fundamental rights. These cannot be denied here either.

Various quarters have even raised the demand to write the constitution anew, along with reforms. What do you think? What is pragmatic?

Salimullah Khan: What happened this time was an uprising. It took place against Sheikh Hasina and the violation of people's fundamental rights by her government. The sections of the constitution amended by Sheikh Hasina must be revoked. The amendments and laws made by other governments too that curb fundamental rights must also be revoked. Whether to come up with a new constitution or amend the old one is an academic debate. The 1972 constitution was modelled on that of India. Our new constitution (whether amended or rewritten) will be simple. The first part will deal with fundamental rights and the second part will be the government's charter.

In the constitution all power must go to the legislative assembly elected by the people. The present constitution keeps the legislative in the fifth section. The executive appears in the fourth section. In this manner, almost unconsciously, the constitution has become centered on the executive.

In the American constitution, the Congress appears at the very beginning, then the executive and then the judiciary. The legislative (Senate or House of Commons) is more important than the president there. Such importance of the legislative has not been established here.

First of all the authority of the legislative must be established. To do so, the members of the parliament must be genuinely elected. If any member is guilty of grievous misdemeanour, then there must be provision for their removal as in the such a provision that exists for justices.

Of the three branches of government, the legislative must be placed above all. The leader of the party with majority in parliament will be the prime minister. Members of the judiciary or judges cannot be appointed without the approval of the legislative. In the US, no justice to the Supreme Court can be appointed without the approval of the Congress. Capitalism has reached a height in the US. We may not be equal to them or it may not be time for us to emulate them, but in reality we do shadow them at every step. So why not in this instance too?

Many advocate a bicameral parliament rather than a unicameral one. Many feel that a law to balance the powers of the president and the prime minister would be good. Many feel that the country should be divided into eight or nine provinces. None of these matters are fundamental reforms. These are just superficial covering up of the scars. The bottom line is, an election must be like an election. The people's rights must be inviolable. There must be provision to punish even those who bring about false cases.

What is the way out of the autocratic or dynastic political system?

Salimullah Khan: The question is, how did Sheikh Hasina remain in power for 15 years? When she rigged the 2014 election, she should have left power then. But as I mentioned before, there was the historical vacuum of balance by which Awami  League carried out its repression on the people for 15 years, with the backing of  our neighbouring country India. That is why when the government fell, the people's fury fell upon the League. It is not difficult to understand why they were attacked. It is true that many Hindu families were attacked, but perhaps it would not be right to say that Hindus were singled out for attack. Indian prime minister Narendra Modi greeted the head of the interim government and said that the rights of all minorities, including Hindus, must be upheld. He could have said, the rights of all people of Bangladesh should be upheld. This lack of broadmindedness is a characteristic of the politicians of our region.

Even if clannish politics or dynastic rule is removed from our country, there is no guarantee that autocracy will not rear up. There are dynastic propensities in our politics. This is not restricted just to Sheikh Hasina and Khaleda Zia. The progeny of the members of parliament become members of parliament too. This has become a norm in our society. Fundamental reforms in politics are required to emerge from this. The basic message of democracy is to take from all according to each of one's capacity and to give to all according to each of one's needs. Social benefits and facilities must be distributed on the basis of equal rights. When all our children can go to school, when they do not lack in money, food and medicines, when either everyone will have private tutors or no one will have them -- then those who competitively score GPA-5, will actually be recognised as meritorious. If their rule is established, then we can hope to break away from the prevailing trend.

Thank you.

Thank you too.