Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina yesterday said the government has amended the constitution to ensure equal rights of all citizens as well as seal off the usurpation of power in the future.
"We want to ensure rights of all citizens irrespective of their religion and race," she said this while she was addressing the leaders of Bangladesh Puja Udjapan Parishad and Janmasthami Udjapan Parishad at her official Gono Bhaban residence.
Hasina said the present government wants to create an atmosphere where every citizen would feel that they are enjoying equal rights like others. "That's why we've brought about the 15th amendment to the constitution," she said.
Referring to the critics of the amendment, she said some vested quarters have emerged all on a sudden and are threatening to throw away the constitution. "I don't know what their problem with the constitution is," she said.
Hasina said the amendment was done to ensure that no one could grab the state power, everyone should get their rights and people could cast their votes in favour of the party of their choice.
She also said the amended constitution envisages provisions to punish those who will grab the power illegally in the future.
"We want to ensure that no one can play game with the fate of the people," she said.
About the caretaker government, Hasina said it was true that she had launched movement for establishment of the caretaker system. "But there were some loopholes in this system as the BNP government passed this system by an illegal parliament," she said.
Hasina said the people have experienced unique experience about the caretaker system since 1990.
Recalling the 'dark days' of 2001, she said not only Hindu, Buddhist or Christians faced oppression; the people who worked for Awami League faced the heinous oppression by the then BNP-Jamaat government. "Even Muslims were not safe from their tortures,' she recalled.
Hasina said AL is the only party in the country that believes in communal harmony.
She said Bangladesh people are very cordial by nature and have respect for other religions. "That's why the people of one religion participate in the religious festivals of the other religions," she said.
Bangladesh Puja Udjapan Parishad Chief Adviser CR Dutta, Prof Durga Das Bhattachariya, Puja Udjapan Parishad President Adv Subrata Chowdhury, General Secretary Mongol Ghosh, Janmasthami Udjapan Parishad, Chittagong chapter General Secretary Adv Tapan Kanti Das and Mahanagar Sarbojanin Puja Udjapan Parishad General Secretary Babul Debnath also spoke on the occasion.
Source : The Daily Star
