Don’t be rattled by CJ’s thoughts on 16th amendment: Quader

Awami League General Secretary Obaidul Quader has asked the people to not be rattled by

Staff Correspondentbdnews24.com
Published : 14 August 2017, 03:19 PM
Updated : 14 August 2017, 03:37 PM

Chief Justice Surendra Kumar Sinha’s observation in the top court verdict on the 16th constitutional amendment.

The Appellate Division, led by Justice Sinha, on Aug 1, published the full verdict upholding a High Court judgment that scrapped the 16th amendment.

The ruling Awami League passed the amendment in 2014 which allowed parliament to sack Supreme Court judges on grounds of incompetence and misconduct.

Quader quoted from Rabindranath Tagore’s poem and compared the “panic triggered by Chief Justice Sinha’s stance” to “temporary dark clouds.”

“The sun is universal, it will rise again,” said the road, transport and bridges minister while addressing a crowd at Dhaka’s Palashi during the celebration of Janmashtami on Monday.

Hindus in Bangladesh celebrated Janmashtami, the birth anniversary of Lord Sri Krishna, on the day.

The minister said he had met Justice Sinha and President Md Abdul Hamid to update them on Awami League’s position regarding the verdict.

“With permission from our President Sheikh Hasina, I have met Justice Sinha and informed him about our stance.

“Today I delivered the same statements to the president on the prime minister’s advice,” Quader said on Monday.

He, however, would not go into the outcomes of the two meetings.

In his observation in the verdict, Justice Sinha touched on such issues as the country’s political situation and independence of the Election Commission and the judiciary.

The ruling Awami League-led 14-Party alliance has described the verdict as 'irrelevant, unacceptable and deliberate'.

On the other hand, its archrival BNP has hailed the appeals court’s verdict as 'historic'.

The ruling party has criticised Justice Sinha for his observation in the verdict - "No nation - no country is made of or by one person."

Ten days after the full verdict was published, Law Minister Anisul Huq appeared before the media and said the government would initiate measures to have ‘unacceptable’ parts of the top court verdict deleted.

Minister Quader went to Justice Sinha’s residence at Old Dhaka’s Hare Road on Saturday to “let him know about his party’s stance”.

He met President Hamid at the Bangabhaban on Monday. Justice Sinha exchanged greetings of Janmashtami with the president there and had left before Quader arrived.

The Awami League general secretary told reporters that he was not aware of Janmashtami celebrations being held at the Bangabhaban.

Later in the day, he inaugurated a rally of Janmashtami at Dhaka’s Palashi.

He asked the minority Hindus to consider themselves as “first-class citizens”.

“This country is Muslim-dominated in terms of numbers but people of all religions have the same rights. All of them fought for the country. So you (Hindus) hold your heads high,” he said.

The Awami League leader promised that the Land Boundary Agreement and the treaty on sharing waters of the Teesta River will soon be signed with India.

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee would lend her hand as a “Bengali,” he said.

Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal was present as special guest at the event. Dhaka South Mayor Md Sayeed Khokon inaugurated the rally.

Hundreds of Hindus took out a rally on trucks and celebrated the day with dance to the beats of drums.

The rally marched through the streets of Gulistan, Nayabazar, Tantibazar and ended at Bahadur Shah Park.

Advocate Shyamal Kumar Roy, General Secretary of Mohanagar Sarbajanin Puja Committee, said the Geeta was recited at Dhakeshwari National Temple with prayers for the welfare of the nation.