Dhaka, Bangladesh
Thousands of protesters marched in Bangladesh's capital in protest of the parliament's adoption of an Islamic constitution, steering away from a secular political culture that has been enshrined in the constitution since 1972.
A half-mile-long rally organized by a conglomerate of left-leaning parties and pro-secular groups, chanting anti-government slogans and waving red flags, marched towards the parliament, where the ruling party and alliance lawmakers hastily adopted several amendments to the constitution at noon Thursday.
Hundreds of riot police in flak jackets and armed with shotguns and teargas shells blocked the marchers by putting up barbed wire fences. The protesters, marching in summer heat and intermittent rain, stopped at the entrance of Dhaka University, where leaders at a makeshift dais addressed the crowd and bitterly criticized the government for switching to an Islamic constitution.
In a massive constitutional reform, the non-partisan interim government has been deleted, which was practiced for 15 years to hold credible elections and ensure smooth transition to an incumbent political government. The opposition fears that the ruling party will rig the election, despite denial by the prime minister.
A set of 55 amendment proposals were incorporated in the constitution amendment bill by a 289-1 vote.
Main opposition claimed the abrogation of the neutral caretaker government will be written in history as a "black day." Opposition leader and former prime minister Khaleda Zia threatened a series of street protests and political agitation to undo the constitution reforms.
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina warned the opposition not to create anarchy and extended olive branches to hold talks with the government to suggest how to hold a credible election scheduled in 2014 and also reduce military interference in state polity.
The prime minister was highly critical of the last military-backed caretaker government (2006-8), which sent the present prime minister and opposition leader to prison for corruption.
The independence war veterans, secularists and left-leaning parties have came down heavily on the government for converting a secular political culture into an Islamic one.
Several lawmakers, mostly from the left-leaning parties, have voted against the proposed amendment of the constitution, which includes "Bismillah ir-Rahman ir-Rahim" (in the name of Allah, most gracious, most merciful), a verse from Koran in the preamble and Islam as state religion.
Ethnic minority leader Mangal Kumar Chakma, in a statement, protested the new constitution, which has termed the indigenous peoples as "tribals, small nationalities, ethnic groups and communities."
Indigenous groups have been angered about being bracketed as "Bangalee," who are majoritarian Sunni Muslims. The indigenous communities are divided into several sub-groups with different languages. They are mostly Buddhist, Hindu and animist.
Bangladesh gained independence from Islamic Pakistan after a bloody war on the principle of establishing a secular and democratic nation.
Former Justice Golam Rabbany lamented at a seminar on Thursday that from now the nation has lost its secular identity, which was gained after decades of struggle. The sacrifices of thousands of martyrs during the independence war forty years ago have been insulted, he decried.
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