Opposition Whip and Jamaat-e-Islami Assistant Secretary General Rafiqul Islam Khan on Tuesday said the constitution should be changed if necessary, giving priority to the aspirations of the July Revolution.
“The constitution is for the people, not the people for the constitution. Therefore, no one will disagree with changing any section of the constitution to implement the aspirations of the July Revolution,” he said.
He said this to the reporters after a special committee meeting at the Parliament that discussed some 133 ordinances, out of which consensus was reached on several issues.
Rafiqul Islam Khan said, discussions on 133 ordinances have started in the first meeting of the special committee today.
“Discussions are ongoing, we have agreed on some ordinances, and some issues will be discussed in the next meeting.”
Rafiqul Islam Khan said that the committee has agreed to recommend an ordinance to increase the service age limit to 32 years.
He said, our Ameer and the opposition leader have been saying from the beginning that we will not oppose just for the sake of opposing.
“We will support and cooperate with the government on any issue in the interest of the country and the people. However, we will take a strong stand on any issue that goes against the country, against the people or against Islam. We are playing the same role here too.”
Regarding the proposed ordinance on the protection of July fighters, he said, we agree with the issues that have come up in the ordinance on the protection of July fighters.
Rafiqul Islam Khan said that the committee has agreed to raise most of the ordinances discussed in the meeting in the form of recommendations in parliament.
He said that 27 ordinances were discussed in the first day's meeting, of which the committee has expressed agreement on most of the remaining ordinances except five.
Rafiqul Islam Khan said that there will be further discussions on the Prevention and Remedy of Disappearances (Amendment) Ordinance-2026 and the Police Commission Ordinance-2025.
Rafiqul Islam Khan said that constitutional issues were not discussed in the first meeting of the special committee.
He said, we will always say what is necessary for the country, urgent issues related to the interests of the people. Whether we say it, we will say it.
In response to the question of which will take precedence between the Constitution and the July aspirations, Rafiqul Islam Khan said, "We will definitely give priority to the July aspirations. Because if there was no July Revolution, we would not have been able to become members of parliament, we would not have been able to come to the parliament building today. We will definitely give priority to this."
"The Constitution is for the people. The Constitution is not the Quran or revelation. The Constitution has always changed. There should be no conflict with the Constitution over the July aspirations.”
The opposition whip said that the Constitution is for the people, not the people for the Constitution. If the Constitution needs to be changed while upholding the July spirit, the change will be made.
“Changes can be made for the needs of the country, for the needs of the people. If the Constitution needs to be changed to implement the July spirit, we will do it. No one should disagree here."
Criticizing the Awami League government, he said, "The General Secretary of the previous fascist government did many things in a fascist manner in the name of the Constitution. He used to say that he would not move a hair outside the Constitution."