Sarjis Alam, the chief coordinator (northern region) of the National Citizen Party (NCP), said on Sunday that leaders and activists have gathered at the Central Shaheed Minar to demand the dismantling of the 1972 "Mujibist" constitution and the establishment of a new one.
"We want to make it clear from this platform today, the 1972 Constitution was a one-party constitution. Its draft was approved from another country. We cannot allow this Mujibist constitution to remain in Bangladesh any longer. We have come here today to this stage to demand the dismantling of that constitution and the establishment of a new one," Sarjis said at a rally organized by the party at the Shaheed Minar.
“We emerged from 200 years of British colonial rule into a new era, but we were not given our rights. We lived under Pakistani rule for 23 years with no rights. Now, in 54 years of independent Bangladesh, still no rights. A year ago from this very stage, we announced the downfall of the killer Hasina and envisioned the end of the fascist regime and the beginning of a new political arrangement, yet we still have no rights. We do not want to hear any more words of despair.”
He continued: “Many who stood at this Shaheed Minar a year ago are now martyrs. Many others are injured. Their families are present here today. We have come to demand justice for our martyred brothers. We have come to demand justice for the bloodshed suffered by our wounded fighters. We have come to demand justice against the Jubo League and Chhatra League, who shed the blood of our brothers. We have sought a guarantee from this government for fundamental reforms. We are here to ensure the rehabilitation of the families of the martyrs and proper medical treatment for the wounded fighters.”
He further said: “Our struggle is not only about 2024. We are here today to demand the highest punishment for those responsible for the premeditated 2009 BDR massacre. We are also here to demand justice for the brutal killings that took place at Shapla Chattar in 2013. Just as there will be no place for Islamophobia in this Bangladesh, there will be no place for hatred against Islam either. We will not allow staged militancy dramas in this Bangladesh. We will not let so-called civil society agents, those sycophants flattering the powerful, get away with it in the name of civil society.”