Reform via referendum, not amendment Jamaat draws line

Opposition Leader and Jamaat-e-Islami Ameer Shafiqur Rahman on Tuesday said his party will not send any representative to a proposed special parliamentary committee formed to amend the constitution, drawing a sharp distinction between amendment and reform and signalling his party’s intent to hold the government to the mandate of last year’s referendum.

“There is no need for a committee for constitutional amendment.

That is routine work — the government will bring a bill, it will be debated, passed or rejected.

No committee is needed for that,” he told journalists at an exchange meeting at the LD Hall of the National Parliament.

“A committee is needed for constitutional reform. If the ruling party makes any such proposal for reform, we will consider it.”

The remarks mark a clear hardening of the opposition’s position on one of the most consequential legislative questions before the current parliament.

Shafiqur argued that the public’s demand, as expressed through the referendum, was for comprehensive constitutional reform — not incremental amendment — and that the government must honour that distinction.

Street Action If Parliament Falls Short
The opposition leader did not stop at procedural objections. Warning that unresolved issues would find another arena, he said: “Whatever can be resolved in parliament, will be.

If parliament cannot resolve it, it will be resolved on the streets. We will not abandon the people’s demands — we have no right to.”

The statement carries particular weight given Jamaat’s role in the July uprising that brought the current government to power.

Shafiqur appeared to be signalling that the opposition views itself as a guardian of the July charter’s promises, not merely a legislative counterweight.

Shafiqur was at pains to define what kind of opposition Jamaat intends to be — neither compliant nor disruptive.

“Do not think of us as a very hot-headed opposition. We will not be a pocket opposition either,” he said.

“We will work as a rational opposition in the national interest, and we expect your cooperation in that.”

He said the opposition would walk out if reasonable positions were dismissed without consideration, but stressed such walkouts would not be prolonged.

“We will not behave inside parliament in any way that harms the public interest.

The people have sent us here to speak on their behalf.”

Border Push-in Notice Withdrawn Under Pressure

Shafiqur also raised a pointed complaint about the handling of a notice his party had submitted to discuss the issue of push-ins at the border.

He said the MP who filed the notice was called aside and asked to withdraw it on the grounds that it was a “sensitive issue.”

“The MP refused, saying — it is precisely because it is a sensitive issue that I want to discuss it, in the interest of the country’s sovereignty and independence,” Shafiqur recounted.

He said the notice was initially accepted for the June 14 session agenda but was subsequently dropped and the day’s schedule rearranged without explanation.

The remarks suggest early friction between the treasury and opposition benches over which national security topics are permissible for open parliamentary debate.

The meeting at the LD Hall was also attended by Opposition Deputy Leader Syed Abdullah Muhammad Taher, Opposition Chief Whip Nahid Islam, Opposition Whip Rafiqul Islam Khan, and Jamaat-e-Islami Secretary General Mia Golam Parwar, among others.