Today is the Bangladesh Constitution Day as the constitution of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh was adopted by the constituent assembly of Bangladesh on November 4, 1972 and came into effect on December 16 in that year.
Marking the day, the national committee for restoring the 1972’s constitution will organise a discussion at the Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy at 4.30pm today.
The nation experienced many ups and downs in the last 50 years, including martial law, but there was no break in constitutional continuity in the country. During its journey, some 17 amendments to the constitution have been made so far.
Following the country’s independence, the Constitutional Assembly of Bangladesh Order, 1972 was issued by the President on March 22, 1972. As per the President’s order, the Constituent Assembly was formed with the members of the National Assembly and the Provincial Assembly elected through the 1970 general elections.
The Constituent Assembly comprised of 404 members. Those who declared their loyalty to Pakistan during the Liberation War were made ineligible for its membership.
The first session of the Constituent Assembly was held on April 10, 1972. The following day, Mansur Ali placed a proposal for drafting a constitution for Bangladesh.
The proposal included a drafting committee consisting of 34 members of the Constituent Assembly with Dr Kamal Hossain as its chairman.
The proposal was accepted unanimously. The committee was supposed to submit a report with a draft constitution in the form of a bill by June 10, 1972, but Dr Kamal Hossain tabled the ‘Constitution Bill’ on October 12, 1972 on behalf of the committee members.
Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman delivered an emotional speech in the Constituent Assembly on November 4, 1972 during the ratification of the Constitution.
He said no country has ever been able to get a constitution so quickly after such a bloody struggle.
According to a proposal of Bangabandhu, the signing ceremony of the members of the Constituent Assembly was held on December 14 and 15, 1972.
The Constituent Assembly was dissolved at midnight on December 15 and the constitution came into effect from December 16, 1972.
BDST: 1154 HRS, NOV 4, 2021
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