THE political situation nearly a month after the uprising in Bangladesh has generated a ferment of ideas about what to do next from a diverse range of social forces. 

It has also led to demands being made on the interim government by all and sundry. All this is to be expected and reflects what has happened in other parts of the world where people’s upsurges have taken place. Let’s review the forces at work.

First, there’s an influential body of people who argue the problem of democracy in Bangladesh stems from an original sin in the constitution. The enactment of the constitution in 1972, written in English and then translated into Bengali, was ratified by a parliament whose members were elected in Pakistan.