Key Bangladesh Official Proposes Removing 'Secularism' From Constitution

Bangladesh's top legal official has proposed to remove the words "secularism" and "socialism" from the Constitution apart from a provision prescribing capital punishment for regime change through extra-constitutional means.

In his statement in the High Court during a hearing on a writ petition filed by a group of citizens, Attorney General Mohammad Asazzaman on Wednesday sought to remove "secularism" and "socialism" as two of the four principles of the Constitution alongside the designation of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman as the Father of the Nation.

Sheikh Mujibur Rahman was the undisputed leader of Bangladesh but the Awami League politicised him in the party's interest, he said, referring to the founding leader of Bangladesh who is popularly known as Bangabandhu.

The writ petition challenged the validity of the Constitution's 15th amendment made by the now-ousted Awami League regime of deposed prime minister Sheikh Hasina in 2011 while a two-judge High Court bench issued a rule asking the interim government to come up with its stance on the matter.

"As a whole, we do not want that (HC) rule to be scrapped," the attorney general said, clarifying the government's stance on the writ petition while talking to newsmen at his office.

Several people, mostly lawyers, emerged as interveners in the writ petition, some supporting the plea and some opposing it.

The 15th amendment was passed in parliament with the strength of a brute majority of the Awami League, restoring, inserting and scrapping several provisions in the Constitution.

The amendments included the restoration of secularism as a state principle, the scrapping of the caretaker government system for election oversight, assuming state power through extra-constitutional means and the designating of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman as the Father of the Nation.

In his concluding arguments, Asaduzzaman told the court that the interim government wanted to declare the 15th amendment to the Constitution largely unconstitutional, retaining only select provisions.

He particularly demanded the restoration of the caretaker government system and the provision of the referendum in the Constitution.

The Awami League regime was toppled on August 5 in the face of a mass upsurge originating from a quota reform campaign by the Anti-Discrimination Students Movement. Three days later Nobel laureate Muhammad assumed office as the chief adviser of the interim government.

The attorney general criticised Article 7A inserted under the 15th amendment that criminalises any attempt to repeal, suspend, or subvert the Constitution through force or unconstitutional means, calling such acts as sedition, which are punishable with the death penalty.

He argued that this restriction limits democratic change and disregards the recent mass uprising that deposed the Awami League government and demanded the restoration of the caretaker government system.

"The (provisions of the 15th) amendment betrays the sacrifices of martyrs like Abu Sayed and Mugdho," said Asaduzzaman, referring to two students who were shot dead during the July-August mass protests.

Asaduzzaman was appointed as the attorney general days after the ouster of the past regime and the resignation of his predecessor.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)