No certainty reform process will reach its goal: Badiul Alam
'We have an upcoming election, and it must be fair, neutral and acceptable. For that, we need to focus on a few key reforms,' says the National Consensus Commission's Badiul Alam Majumdar
Badiul Alam Majumdar, a member of the National Consensus Commission, has said that although the process of reform is underway, there is no certainty whether it will ever reach its destination.
While speaking at the launch of a new initiative called Bangladesh Reform Watch at a hotel in Dhaka's Gulshan today (1 September), Baidul said certain reforms are urgently needed.
"We have an upcoming election, and it must be fair, neutral and acceptable. For that, we need to focus on a few key reforms," he said.
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Recalling a conversation with some people from villages inside the parliament complex, he said, "I heard them say, 'What a beautiful building! But this very place had become the den of the most despicable people.' That remark became a kind of guidance for us."
Asked about repeated extensions of the commission's tenure, Baidul said he is certain the timeframe of the consensus commission will not be extended any further.
"Whatever is to happen will take place within the next two weeks or 15 days; otherwise, it will not happen at all. We have tried our best and will continue to do so," he said.
Regarding the political significance of reforms failing, he said, "The citizen's role is the most vocal and active. If they remain vocal, active and protest, and if they step forward, then change will come. Otherwise, it will not."
Badiul noted with concern that while almost all university students participated in the July Uprising, very few read the reform proposals or raised their voices for change. "We have fallen asleep. If we do not wake up and speak out, the future will only repeat the past."
