Amendment

The Constitution of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh is been amended 14 times. Most of the amendments are will always be under deliberate because of the dirty nature of the Bangladeshi politics.Significantly, 4th, 5th, 7th, 8th and 14th amendment. What actually happens is whatever change one political party in power makes the other political party instantly starts searching a loop hole not for the betterment of the country but just to fool the illiterate people of the county with irrational logics for their supports. It is also true that many times different political parties just only looked for their own advantages by amending the constitution. But still this issue should be analyzed for the betterment of the nation not to fool the illiterate people for their supports.

The following is a brief account of these amendments.

First Amendment Act: The Constitution Act 1973 was voted for on 15 July 1973. It amended Article 47 of the constitution by insisting a supplementary section which permitted trial and punishment of any individual accused of ‘genocide, crimes against humanity or war crimes and other crimes under international law’. After Article 47 it inserted a new-fangled Article 47A specifying inapplicability of certain primary rights in those cases.

Second Amendment: The actual Constitution did not have any prerequisite for declaration of state of emergency and defensive detention. By the Constitution Act 1973, Article 33 was amended on condition that for defensive detention and Part IXA was inserted conferring authority on Parliament and the administrative to deal with emergency state and providing for postponement of enforcement of the fundamental privileges during the episode of emergency.

Third Amendment Act: The Constitution (Third Amendment) Act 1974 was added on 28 November 1974 by bringing in changes in Article 2 of the constitution with a outlook to giving outcome to an agreement between Bangladesh and India in deference of exchange of certain enclaves and fascination of boundary lines between India and Bangladesh.

Fourth Amendment: The Constitution Act 1975 prepared foremost changes into the Constitution. The presidential system of the government was introduced in place of the parliamentary system; a one-party system instead of a multi-party system was the main important part; the authority of the Parliament were shortened; the Judiciary lost much of its liberty; the Supreme Court was underprivileged of its command over the protection and enforcement of basic rights. This Act (i) amended Articles 11, 66, 67, 72, 74, 76, 80, 88, 95, 98, 109, 116, 117, 119, 122, 123, 141A, 147 and 148 of the Constitution; (ii) was alternated by Articles 44, 70, 102, 115 and 124 of the Constitution; (iii) amended Part III of the Constitution out of existence; (iv) altered the Third and Fourth Schedule; (v) absolute the term of the first Jatiya Sangsad; (vi) ended unique supplies relating to the office of the President and its serving; (vii) inserted a new part, i.e. part VIA in the Constitution and (viii) inserted Articles 73A and 116A in the Constitution. [3]

Fifth Amendment: The Constitution Act was accepted by the Jatiya Sangsad on 6 April 1979. This Act amended the Fourth agenda to the Constitution by adding a new Paragraph 18 thereto, which offers that all amendments, add-ons, adjustment, replacement and oversight made in the Constitution during the stage between 15 August 1975 and 9 April 1979 (both days inclusive) by any public statement or Proclamation Order of the Martial Law Authorities had been dependably made and would not be called in query in or before any court or tribunal or power on any ground whatsoever. The phrase ‘Bismillah ar-Rahman ar-Rahim’ was added before the preface of the Constitution. The idiom ‘historic struggle for national liberation’ in the introduction was swap by ‘a historic war for national independence.’ One party government was replaced by multiparty parliamentary government. Essential principles of state policy were ended as ‘absolute trust and faith in the Almighty Allah, nationalism, democracy and socialism meaning economic and social justice.’