Author: Apurbo Ahmed Jewel: Those who shout the loudest slogans in the name of democracy are often the first to ignore the will of the people in practice — and history quietly inscribes one word: hypocrisy.
A referendum is the direct voice of the people. It is neither Parliament nor a political party — the people themselves are the owners of the state and make the decisions. When the outcome favors constitutional reform, the duty of any political party should have been to bow its head and respect that decision.
But BNP did not.
They did not take the oath. They avoided the people’s mandate. Exploiting loopholes in the law, they shut the door of morality.
Is this their idea of democracy?
The party that has long claimed — the country needs reform, the state must change, power must be balanced — when faced with the first step of reform, it retreats. The question arises: do they want reform, or do they want power?
In the referendum, the people voted for the future. BNP stood on the side of past opportunism.
Listening to their arguments, it seems they found a hidden excuse within the law to postpone the people’s decision. But politics is not just a game of papers. Politics is also a question of morality.
When millions of people stand in line to vote, it is not merely a “procedural matter” — it is the declaration of the state’s soul.
And BNP has ignored that very declaration.
Do you know what is even more alarming?
This same party once spoke of referendums against dictatorship. Today, when a real referendum has arrived — they have fled.
Today they did not take the oath. Tomorrow they will not honor the verdict.
The day after, they will even deny the history of July.
This is how democracy slowly becomes captive to party interests.
Some parties have protested — such as Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami — but the central question remains: will the state function according to the people’s will, or according to political cunning?
The path BNP has chosen is not one of reform — it is one of control. They did not respect the referendum because it was beyond their hands.
Where the people are strong, opportunistic politics becomes weak. BNP has feared that strength.
Those who remain silent today will be the ones tomorrow claiming — “Democracy does not work.”
But the truth is — democracy worked. The politicians failed.
History is patient, but it does not forget.
Those who avoided the people’s verdict today, the people themselves will avoid tomorrow.
