Untold Facts

Opinion: Between the 4th and 5th Amendments

In the euphoria over the Supreme Court’s invalidation of the Fifth Amendment, giddy observers and assorted sycophants conveniently forget that the spirit of the 1972 Constitution was changed by the Fourth Amendment of 1975 as much as, if not more so, by the now infamous Fifth. In fact, even as I write there are constitutional experts huddled together wondering if this week’s judicial verdict takes us back to the regime of the Fourth Amendment.

And what was the Fourth Amendment that was written, championed, and passed by the very individuals who today claim the restoration of democracy?

By virtue of the Fourth Amendment, with the stroke of a pen Bangladesh went from a multi-party parliamentary democracy to a one party presidential dictatorship. It banned all parties, association and newspapers not controlled by the state, made the Supreme judiciary subservient to the President, and made it mandatory for all public servants to become members of the ruling party. There are dozens of members in today’s parliament and government who voted for this democracy killing monstrosity in 1975 with the enthusiasm of schoolboys on summer vacation.

Where, I ask, was the love of the 1972 Constitution then? Where was the beautiful prose of fundamental rights? Where was the burning desire to establish democracy?

It was not there then and it is not there now. Given how the world has changed and even the erstwhile one party states have devolved into thriving representative democracies, the champions of the Fourth Amendment dare not openly display their contempt for dissent. Close observation, however, makes plain that even in 2010, in their third run at state power, these people are very uncomfortable with any dissent.

Only the other day, the goons of the ruling party beat up coeds peacefully holding a rally at Dhaka University grounds. A subservient police, reminiscent of Rakhi Bahini days, watched on the sidelines and then put the victims of the atrocity in prison! All this was captured by camera and splashed around the national dailies and the world. And this is on top of the five judicial murders and the two dozen extra judicial ones that have already happened on the watch of this government.

No wonder the present rulers are smiling at the demise of the Fifth Amendment: is that because the verdict takes them one step closer to their cherished fiefdom of the times of the Fourth Amendment when a monolithic elite ruled with absolute power?

Only time can tell.

Author: Esam Sohail
(The author is a former college lecturer of international affairs and writes from Kansas, USA)
Source; The New Nation