Barrister Rumeen Farhana, a former MP and BNP assistant international affairs secretary, has stated that a referendum on whether to change or create a new constitution is possible.

She stated, “A separate conversation is needed to determine whether the current constitution will be upheld by the future generation. A vote may be called to determine whether this constitution will be altered again or whether we will write a new one,” said

She made the statement on Tuesday at 5 pm during a discussion titled “Constitution: Power or the People’s?” held in the gallery room of the Faculty of Social Sciences at Jahangirnagar University.

During the four-hour-long discussion, various speakers shared their opinions and views on the constitution.

Criticizing past constitutional amendments, Barrister Rumeen Farhana said: “Since the birth of Bangladesh until 2023, every amendment was made by the government in power to secure their authority. Governments have changed the constitution in favor of their own party’s interests. The entire structure of the state was dismantled by the fourth amendment.”

She also shared her personal background, saying: “I come from a political family. I come from a family where six daily prayers were observed. Tahajjud was prayed as if it were mandatory. My father, who himself prayed six times a day, said that when the Awami Muslim League was formed, if the word Muslim stayed in the party’s name, he would not remain with the party. Because the state and religion, or religion and the state, cannot be intertwined.”

She further added: “Religion misuses the state, and the state misuses religion. The state often uses religion as an excuse to justify its misdeeds. The new generation is earnestly requesting you to keep religion in its place and the state in its place. Never, for God’s sake, mix religion with the state or politics.”

Regarding the state religion of Islam in the constitution, she said, “Article 2A of the constitution states that Islam is the state religion. However, Article 8 of the same constitution lists secularism as one of the guiding principles of state policy, along with democracy, socialism, and nationalism. How can you make secularism a fundamental principle of the state while keeping Islam as the state religion?”

Commenting on the swearing-in of the interim government under the current constitution, Rumeen Farhana said: “Is there a constitution in place in the country or not? If there is no constitution, then how did the interim government take the oath under this constitution?

“If the constitution is still in place, then we are awaiting dangerous news. Sheikh Hasina is still the prime minister. According to Article 57(e) of the constitution, the previous prime minister will remain in office until the next prime minister assumes their duties. When Sheikh Hasina said over the phone, ‘I’ll slip in quickly; I’m still the prime minister of Bangladesh,’ she was not wrong. According to the constitution, she is still the prime minister,” Rumeen added.

Hasanat Kaiyum, chief coordinator of the Rastrar Songskaar Andolan (Movement for State Reform) and lawyer, as well as Professor Sharmin Neelormi from the Department of Economics, and over a hundred students from various departments of the university, participated in the discussion.