Dr Kamal for acceptable JS polls
Gono Forum President Dr Kamal Hossain yesterday said the upcoming parliamentary polls have to be acceptable to all so that people's rights can be ensured.
“It has to be an election through which they [people] can get back their rights,” he told a discussion in the city's Mahanagar Natyamancha in the capital.
Jatiya Oikya Prakria, a citizens' platform formed by Kamal, organised the programme titled “Expectations Confirmed in the Constitution of Bangladesh, Present Situation and Doable”.
Addressing the event as main speaker, Kamal, also the convener of the platform, said it was told before the January 5, 2014 national polls that the elections would be held only to maintain constitutional continuity.
The eminent jurist, who turned 81 yesterday, said lies were spread in the name of democracy and people were forced to swallow those lies. “It's better to get shot instead of being a victim of lies.”
Kamal, also a constitutional expert, stressed the need for unity among people, to help overcome the prevailing situation in Bangladesh.
“No autocratic ruler can survive [in office] in Bangladesh for long,” he told the programme.
He also said the current rulers should read article 7 of the constitution which ensures people's rights as the owner of the country.
Kamal further said the government should take action against the perpetrators of the scams in the banking sector.
Speaking at the programme as chief guest, Bikalpa Dhara Bangladesh President AQM Badruddoza Chowdhury said the country had been lacking in true patriotic people who would take bold steps and speak of democratic practices.
Criticising the government's attempts to gag anti-government voices, Badruddoza said only the ruling Awami League was now allowed to hold outdoor meetings in the country.
About Bangladesh-Myanmar relations, he said all the previous governments made mistakes as they did not take effective measures to build close ties with the neighbouring country.
“Myanmar could be our close ally,” he said, adding everyone could see what the country was doing now.
Barrister Mainul Hossain, former adviser to a caretaker government, said it seems that freedom of individuals is now at the mercy of the government.
Holding a fair national election under a non-partisan government is a demand of all, he added.
Terming the present government “illegitimate”, Krishak Sramik Janata League President Abdul Kader Siddique called upon people to take to the streets and wage a movement to remove the government.
Former DUCSU vice president Sultan Muhammed Mansur Ahmad said democracy was the basis of the Liberation War in 1971. But democracy was eliminated from the country, he said.
Bikalpa Dhara Bangladesh Secretary General Maj (retd) MA Mannan, Bangladesher Samajtantrik Dal President Khalequzzaman Bhuiyan, Jatiya Oikya Prokria Member Secretary ABM Mostafa Amin, and National Committee to Protect Oil, Gas, Mineral Resources, Power and Ports Convener Shiekh Muhammad Shahidullah, among others, spoke at the discussion.