Constitution of Bangladesh and the citizens
Before introducing this article to my blog I want to clarify certain points. First of all I am not a political activist and not involved in politics in any form. I am not comfortable with the political parties of Bangladesh. I maintain the political idea that religion is personal faith and politics has nothing to do with religion. I want Bangladesh to be a secular state. I believe that all humans are equal and love is the best virtue. The primary responsibility of the state is to promote welfare of it’s citizens.
In view of the present political environment, I feel depressed, degraded and humiliated as a citizen of Bangladesh. I wanted to be ascertained about our human rights and democratic rights stipulated in our constitution. The constitution of Bangladesh is well-written, organized and integrated which is full of many good words and sentences. It contains plenty of praiseworthy commitments and hopes. It has given it’s people the highest level of honour, dignity and respect. Our constitution has taken us to the heaven. I cannot match the real life situation with our constitution.
The attractive and valuable provisions of our constitution are as follows:-
In the beginning it says, the rule of law, fundamental human rights and freedom, equality and justice, political, economic and social will be secured for all citizens.” These words sound very lovely but the real scenario is completely different. This inconsistency of words and deeds hurt us very much. We observe that there is no rule of law. Fundamental human rights are not protected. Our democratic rights do not exist. There is continuous extrajudicial killing for political gains. Political opponents are killed in the names of gun fight and cross-fire. World Report 2015: Bangladesh says, “Security forces carried out abduction, killings and arbitrary arrests, particularly targeting opposition leaders and supporters.”
These days nothing can remain hidden. We get all information from the internet, newspapers, wikipedia etc. For every issue I could explore several internet web pages and videos uploaded on youtube by the local Television Channels and other sources.
I would like to refresh some memories that I read in the newspapers, wikipedia and the internet web pages. I watched some videos on youtube too. I want to mention it quite clearly that I did not generate the information. These were published in the newspapers and discussed in the Television Talk shows of the Bangladeshi T.V Channels. Television news broadcast explained everything in detail. As such these topics are nothing new. I just reviewed the issues with my personal interpretations.
en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_rights_in_Bangladesh has narrated the following: -
“Bangladeshi security forces have been persistently criticized by Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch due to grave abuses of human rights. These include extrajudicial summary executions, excessive use of force and the use of custodial torture. Reporters and defenders of human rights are harassed and intimidated by the authorities. Since 2003, legislative barriers to prosecution and transparency have afforded security services immunity and accountability to the general public. Transparency International has listed Bangladesh as the most corrupt country in the world for five consecutive years. RAB (Rapid Action Battalion) and other security agencies have been accused of using torture during custody and interrogation. One allegation of such came from a young man who was arrested in Dhaka for protesting against the assault of an old man by plainclothes RAB Agents. He was later severely tortured. On 27 July, 2005, two brothers from Rajshahi, Azizur Rahman Shohel and Atiquer Rahman Jewell, were arrested on fabricated charges, beaten with batons and subjected to electric shocks. It is alleged that they were hospitalized at Rajshahi Medical School hospital under police custody.
The most thorough accounts of torture in Bangladesh was the May 2007 case of torture against Tasneem Khalil, a journalist and a blogger. He was tortured while in the custody of Director General of Forces Intelligence during the interim Govt. and after his release, Khalil wrote a report published by Human Rights Watch. Sweden granted Khalil exile after he fled Bangladesh.
Seven murders in Narayanganj
Daily star a popular newspaper of Bangladesh reported on August 1, 2015 that the gruesome kidnap and murder of seven persons including Narayangonj City Corporation Panel Mayor, Nazrul Islam sent a wave of panic across Bangladesh. Mr. Islam’s father-in-law said that some RAB men killed him in exchange for Taka six crore from Awami League Leader Nur Hossain and a few others.
At present Nur Hossain is in India. I do not understand why he is in India. It seems that when a person commits crime in Bangladesh, the legal process should be conducted in Bangladesh. We do not know when Nur Hossain will be brought back to Bangladesh and the criminals will be brought to justice.
Murder of Sagor Sarowar and Meherun Runi
Wikipedia says that murder of Sagor Sarwar and Meherun Runi is the unsolved double murder case of two well known married Bangladeshi journalists who were stabbed to death in their Dhaka apartment on 11 February 2012. Sagor Sarowar worked as a journalist for Deutsche Welle.
Daily Star about murder of seven people in Narayanganj
Daily Star, a popular newspaper of Bangladesh reported that the gruesome kidnap and murder of seven persons including Narayangonj City Corporation Panel Mayor, Nazrul Islam last month sent a wave of panic across Bangladesh. Mr. Islam’s father-in-law said that some RAB men killed him in exchange of Taka six crore from Awami League Leader or member, Nur Hossain and a few others.
Missing of Ilius Ali
en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ilias_Ali says that Ilius Ali is a Bangladeshi politician from Sylhet district and a former member of the Bangladesh Parliament (2001-2006). Chosen in 2010 as the organizing Secretary of the Bangladesh National party. He and his chauffeur were last seen at midnight in the capital of Dhaka on 17 April, 2012. Khaleda Zia, BNP leader alleged that they were kidnapped by Awami League Security Forces as part of suppression of the opposition.
We do not know whether Ilius Ali is alive or not. We want him to be alive.
Missing of Chowdhury Alam, Councillor of 56 number ward of Dhaka City Corporation
odhikar.org said that Md. Chowdhury Alom, Councilor of 56 number ward of Dhaka City Corporation was abducted from Indira Road, Dhaka on June 25, 2010. The family alleges that he was taken away in a micro-bus by 7 or 8 men who dressed in plainclothes and identified themselves as law enforcement officers.
Kidnap of Salauddin Ahmad, Joint Secretary General of BNP
bdnews24.com- Salauddin Ahmad, the Joint Secretary General of BNP who went missing for over two months, says he does not know how he surfaced in this mountainous state, capital of Meghalaya, on monday morning. Mr. Ahmad claimed that he was kidnapped by unidentified group of people from Uttora in Capital Dhaka on the night of March 10, 2015. He was admitted to the under Trial Prisoner Cell in Shillong civil Hospital. The police officials who interrogated him found that he was not speaking coherently. That is why they referred him to Meghalaya Institute of Mental Health and Neuro Sciences.
This seems to be strange and pathetic. There are many questions in people’s minds.
Shooting at Reaz Rahman, Advisor to Khaleda Zia
dhakatribune.com 13 January 2015- Unidentified miscreants have opened fire on Reaz Rahman, BNP Chairperson, Khaleda Zia’s advisor in front of Pink City Shopping Mall in the city’s Gulshan area on Tuesday evening. Nurul Alom, Gulshan Zone Police Commissioner confirmed the news to Dhaka Tribune. This is a sad event beyond all doubts.
Killing of Tanvir Md. Tawki
bdnews24.com- Rafiur Rabbi, convenor of Narayangonj version of Shahbagh Gono Jagoron Moncho, on Friday accused ruling Awami League leader and former M.P A.K.M Shameem Osman of killing his son, Tanvir Md. Tawki. Narayangonj City Corporation Mayor, Selina Hayat Ivy raised the same allegation too.
Killing of Hefajate-Islam activists
hefajate-islam.org/2p=246-An estimated 2500 Muslim scholars and devotees were killed, tortured and hospitalized in critical conditions and thousands were arrested. Night completely blackened out to comfortably commit genocide.
I live near Baitul Mokarram of Dhaka. So far I remember shooting started at around 6.00 pm. Electricity was kept off. It was not possible for me to know who was killing whom. I heard the continuous sounds of firings only. My fridge was full of raw meat and fish. On that day, I did my household marketing for the whole month. I did not know that electricity would go off for such a long time. If I could know it earlier I would not buy fish and meat on that day. My food items within the fridge were getting rotten. I was worried. There was no water because the motor could not be operated. Due to lack of electricity normal household activities were disrupted. Throughout the entire night we could not sleep because of sounds of firings. We got frightened and panicked. Sounds of firings stopped in the morning. Electricity came back at around 9 o’clock in the morning. People discussed the happening in every corner. They said many things that I cannot write here. Some videos were uploaded on youtube. One of those uploaded by Al Jazeera titled “Al Jazeera 1st Report on the 5th May Black night Genocide over Hefazat-e-Islam.” I could not watch it because the brutality was too hard for me to bear. Even today we do not know how many people were killed on that day. It may not be thousands or it may not be even one. But we need to know the exact number.
Killing of Dr. Fayez Ahmad-Jamaat Leader
Bnasher Kellah-14 December 2013- Acting Ameer of Bangladesh Jamat-e-Islami, Maqbul Ahmad has delivered a statement today protesting the murder of Lakhkhipur district Nayeb-e-Ameer of Jamaat, Dr. Fayez Ahmad by the law enforcers as per instructions of the Government. They ransacked and searched his house. At one stage they took Dr. Fayez Ahmad on the roof-top and threw him on the ground after firing bullets on him.
I was profoundly shocked when I heard this news. I read in the daily newspapers that many Jamat leaders and activists were killed brutally. I believe that these are criminal offences.
I want to clarify my ideas again about religion in politics. I believe that religion is personal faith. Our political lives should be free of religion. Once religion dominated the political powers of Europe but gradually people thought that to ensure equality of all citizens the political arena should be free of religion. Bangladesh Government can ban the political parties based on religion. Government can promote secularism. I want Bangladesh to be a secular state but I cannot support killing of the political opponents for personal gains.
Extrajudicial killings
odhikar.org/extrajudicial-killings: Article 32 of the constitution says, “ No person shall be deprived of life or personal liberty, save in accordance with law”. But Bangladesh has learnt notoriety in carrying out extrajudicial killings. Extra judicial killing is an arbitrary or unlawful deprivation of life and simply a murder. Different terminologies have been used by the law enforcing agencies for extrajudicial killings. These are- deaths during cross-fire, encounter, gunfire etc. After fact finding, Odhikar in many cases could not find any trace of counter shootings and it seems that majority of the victims were shot dead by the law enforcement agencies.
Democratic rights
Bangladesh elects on national level a legislature with one house or chamber. The unicameral national parliament has 350 members. 300 members are directly elected through a national election for a five-year term. 50 seats are reserved for women who are selected by the ruling party or coalition. The Prime Minister is the head of the Government. The president is the head of the state who is elected by the national parliament.
As per our constitution all powers in the Republic belong to the people. This constitution is the solemn expression of the will of the people. The Republic shall be a democracy in which fundamental human rights and freedom and respect for the dignity and worth of the human person shall be guaranteed and in which effective participation by the people through their elected representatives in administration at all levels shall be ensured.
Our constitution has specifically mentioned about the following rights of the citizens: -
- Freedom of movement
- Every citizen shall have right to assemble and to participate in public meetings and processions peacefully and without arms, subject to any reasonable restrictions imposed by law in the interest of public order or public health.
- The right of every citizen to freedom of speech and expression.
- Freedom of the press.
We are proud of the rights we can enjoy as per our constitution but in reality we find the reverse. People of Bangladesh cannot hold meetings, demonstrations, long march, human chain etc. Freedom of speech and expression is limited. A popular newspaper titled, “Amar Desh” cannot be published. The famous and popular TV channels are withdrawn. These are Digonto TV, Islamic TV and Ekushey TV. I do not understand why these channels have been stopped. I feel that these TV channels were excellent.
Right to vote of the citizens-fundamental right
We are deprived of our voting rights. We cannot select or choose our representatives. We do not want to be governed by the leaders who are self-selected. We want to cast our votes in favour of the candidates whom we think to be good and qualified for us.
The universal declaration of human rights was adopted unanimously by the United Nation’s General Assembly in 1948. Article 22 of this declaration says that the will of the people shall be the basis of the authority of Govt. This will of the people shall be expressed in periodic and genuine elections. The elections shall be held by free voting procedures. Everyone has the right to take part in the Government of his or her country directly or through freely chosen representatives. The right to vote is the fundamental human right.
National election-5 January 2015
National election was held in Bangladesh on 5 January 2015. Opposition parties did not participate. We could not vote for suitable candidates. perspectivebd.com/2004/02/meaningless-election-pity-for-democracy-in-bangladesh describes the situation more clearly. They have said, “The 10th Parliamentary election took place in Bangladesh on 5 January, under the current Awami League Government. This election was boycotted by the main opposition parties and criticism from the international community has been equally intense. More than 150 seats (154) have been won by the governing party even before the election. Less than 10% of the total voters came out to vote in the election. In many polling stations there were no voters at all. In some polling stations a record number of votes have been cast even though there were no real local voters ever visiting the stations. The ghost voters were active under the watchful eyes of the officials and security personnel. Nearly 20 people have been killed in the violence related to election, several polling stations have been burnt and presiding officers beaten up.
52% of the voter could not vote for their chosen candidates. The financial cost of this election was 300 crores of Taka but the election was not free, fair and all inclusive. No voter was seen in 41 polling stations. There were fake votes. In some cases the number of ballots were much more than the number of voters. The well known daily newspaper, “Prothom Alo” published the photos of Presiding officers stamping seals by themselves on the ballot papers. Even the Prime Minister and the Chief Election Commissioner could not vote. In 34 election centers there were no votes. Collection of votes was stopped or postponed in 540 centers. Election was postponed for eight seats. This election was criticized by Canada, European Union, Great Britain, U.S.A, China, Russia, U.N.O, Korea and Japan. The election was not acceptable to Denmark, Sweden and France. I remember that according to our constitution the parliament members must be elected by the direct votes of the people.
Upazila elections 2014
Upazila elections of Bangladesh in 2014 were very badly manipulated. I watched a video on youtube uploaded by Bangla Vision titled “Faked vote cast by police in Bangladesh Upazila election.” This video says that members of the police were involved in fake votes. The video referred to Majhirkanda polling centre of Nawabgonj. Striking Force was present there but the police officer of this force refused to make any comment on fake votes. The presiding officer of Majhirkanda polling centre informed Bangla Vision TV Channel that 400 ballots were hijacked from him in presence of the police officers. The police officer offered bribe to the journalists of Bangla vision so that they do not publish or broadcast this news on television. There was vote rigging and the agents and workers of the opposition parties were beaten and forced to leave the polling centres.
SA TV uploaded another video titled “ Bangladesh Upazila election 2014 and Awami League corruption”. This video tells us that there were fighting over occupation of Sonaimuri polling centre of Noakhali. At this centre one person died known as Saddam Hossain. The voters were not allowed to vote. There were fightings over capturing the polling centres and more than hundred people were injured in Bagerhat, Thakurgaon, Madaripur, Jessore, Chandpur, Sirajganj and Jhenaidah. The Election Commission postponed collection of ballot papers at 21 polling centres. Among these, 11 in Barisal Sadar, 8 in Chandpur, 1 in Feni and the other one is in Sirajganj. BNP (Bangladesh Nationalist Party) called Hartals in some Upazilas.
City Corporation Election-2015
In the real sense of the term, there was no City Corporation Election. I could not cast my vote in my local area. Members of the ruling party wanted to check our ballot papers. When it was not in favour of the ruling party they simply tore our ballot papers into pieces. I found no agent of the opposition parties there.
I watched some videos on youtube. One of these is titled “ City Corporation Elections Bangladesh 2015-How they stole votes”. Any one can watch this video and watch how the undesirable agents are filling out the ballot boxes with fake votes.
Another video on youtube is titled as “ Fake vote casting Dhaka and Chittagong City Corporation Election”. Contents of this video depicts the facts that the presiding officers were helpless. They said that they would be grateful if they could return home alive. Aklakus Safa, journalist, was at Khilgaon Government Primary School Centre. He said that this centre was no different from the others. He observed the same situation here too. The voters were interviewed and they said that they were not allowed to vote. Authorities at the polling centre told them to come later. The voters said that the agents of the ruling party filled in the ballot boxes with fake votes in front of them.
Another video titled “Exclusive news Bangla Vision on Dhaka City Corporation Election 2015” says that the voters and workers of the mass media complained against the election procedure. Voting was stopped at Suritola and Kabi Nazrul College Centres, Dhaka. Voters of Kamrunnesa Girls School Centre, Dhaka could not vote. Their votes were collected before their arrival to the polling station. The voters saw some people stamping seals on the ballot papers by themselves. One boy of ⅚ year old cast 3 votes. In this video he said it himself. The voters said that the ruling party workers harassed and beat them. They said, “ You don’t need to vote. We have cast your votes.” When they complained to the RAB (Rapid Action Battalion), they replied, “This is not our business. Tell this to Election Commission.” Workers of the mass media and the journalists could not enter the polling centre.
At Siddeshwari Girl’s College Centre, Councillor-candidate, Ariful Islam complained that the candidate against him named Quamaruzzaman Kajal compelled his polling agents at gunpoint to get out of the polling station. They insulted the women too through undesirable behaviour. At Shahjahanpur Rail Gate Government High School Centre a gang of young men entered the centre and started stamping the seals on the ballot papers. The officers-in-charge could not control the situation and thereby, left the polling centre. The voters said that the ballot boxes were filled in by fake votes.
At Khilgaon Government Primary School Centre ballot papers were hijacked. The voting process was postponed at Suritola polling centre of Dhaka. The voters said that they could not vote even at 9.00 am. They were told that their votes had already been collected. They were asked to go back home.
At Dhaka University Social Welfare Research Institute Centre polling agents of Mirja Abbas were forced to get out of the polling centre. The police did not listen to any complaint. They said that it was not their business. The voters should lodge their complaints to the Chief Election Commissioner.
Referendum
I studied the web page- en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Referendums_by_country. I understand that almost all countries of the world have provisions of “Referendums” in their constitutions. In Europe Australia, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Moldova, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russia, Serbia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Ukraine and the United Kingdom have used this provision as and when it was necessary.
In Asia, Hong Kong, Iran, Iraq, Pakistan, India, the Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan and Thailand have provisions of Referendum.
In North America, the U.S.A and Canada have used Referendum.
In Central and South America, Brazil, Chile, Costa Rica, Puerto Rico, Uruguay and Venezuela have used Referendum.
Among the oceanian countries, Australia and New Zealand used Referendum.
In Africa, Egypt, Eritrea and Morocco used Referendum.
I am profoundly sad for the fact that Referendum has been abolished from our constitution. I do not understand why had it been done. Is it for suppressing people’s voice? I want to understand the reason behind this.
Caretaker Government
The Caretaker Government of Bangladesh is a form of governmental system in which the country is ruled by a selected Government for an interim period during the transition from one elected Government to another after completion of tenure of the former. As the outgoing Government hands over its power, the caretaker Government comes into place. Top members of the Caretaker Government do not represent any political party nor are they allowed to contest the elections. The main objective of Caretaker Government is to create an environment in which an election can be held in a free and fair manner without political influence by the outgoing Government. The Caretaker Government is not empowered to take any policy decisions unless it is necessary.
Since 1996, a Caretaker Government has managed the elections and transitions of 1996, 2001 and 2008. This system was adopted as part of the constitution in 1996 by the sixth Parliament.
Caretaker Government is popular in Bangladesh. Several surveys showed that majority of the population wanted elections to be held under Caretaker government. If I remember correctly one of the surveys was done by a very popular daily newspaper known as Prothom Alo. We have to depend on surveys because the provision of Referendum has been abolished from our constitution. It may be mentioned that Pakistan and Greece also adopted this model to hold elections and overcome political stalemate.
I do not understand why the ruling party has eliminated the provision of “Caretaker Government” from our constitution, specially when people wanted this. It was people’s voice. Why was that ignored? Moreover, it was an established practice and procedure of holding elections peacefully.
No vote or Naa Vote
None of the above (NOTA) also known as “Against all” or a scratch vote, is a ballot option in some jurisdictions or organizations, designed to allow the voter to indicate disapproval of all the candidates in a voting system. Bangladesh introduced this system in 2008. Besides, other countries have this provision in their constitutions. At present 14 countries have this provision. India, Greece, U.S State of Nevada, Ukraine, Spain, Colombia and Russia have the system of NOTA ( None of the above). Pakistan introduced it in 2013 but later the Election Commission of Pakistan rejected it. As far as I know people of Bangladesh have lost this opportunity too. Our constitution no longer contains this provision. I do not understand why should we not be able to reject candidates if we find them unsuitable. This has definitely curtailed our freedom of expression.
Strange Opposition Party
The leader of the opposition is normally the leader of the largest party not within the Government. Jatiyo Party is the main opposition party declared by the Government. How the main opposition party can get it’s identity by declaration? Reality is far different from this whimsical arrangement. Jatiyo Party is not the first or second largest party. The most important point is that they are part of the Government. There are 40 Members of the parliament who are from Jatiyo party. How can they be the main opposition party? The main opposition party must be from outside the Government who will criticize the Government when members of the Government make mistakes or things go in a wrong way. Jatiyo Party is within the Government. They do not dare to say anything against the Government. They are busy to please the ruling party.
Conclusion
In conclusion I want to say something that I feel as a citizen. We want to get back our human and democratic rights. We want to live like citizens of a free country. We want freedom of speech and movement. We want freedom of holding meetings, forum of discussions, demonstrations, processions, human chain, long march etc without fear and intimidation. We want freedom of our mass media including the television channels. We want our rights of voting for the candidates whom we choose. We should be governed by the people elected by us. A free, fair and all inclusive election is absolutely necessary for Bangladesh.
