People’s fate not leased out to any person or party: Dr Kamal

The fate of the people is not leased out to any person or any political party, and the country is not anyone's family inheritance, eminent jurist Dr Kamal Hossain said yesterday.
He made the comment during a discussion meeting titled 'National dialogues, upcoming general election, and the will of the people' held in the Liberation War Museum in the capital, organised by Shommilito Shamajik Andolon (SSA), a citizens' platform.
"The fate of the people is not leased out to any person or any political party. The idea that nothing can be done without some specific persons' permission, is intolerable. The country does not belong to any party," Dr Kamal Hossain quipped.
He also said, "If somebody threatens to foil the election we the eight crore voters will make the election happen by casting our votes."
About public expectations regarding the ongoing dialogues between the military backed caretaker government and political parties, Dr Kamal said the people want the dialogues to be successful and no one has the right to obstruct realisation of the public will.
M Hamid, a director of theatres and television programmes, said, "The level playing field that we were talking about has been made unsettled once again only to keep some people out of the election. The matter of rejecting anyone should be left for the public to decide through their votes."
Columnist Syed Abul Maksud Ahmed urged political parties to be flexible about participating in the dialogues for the sake of democracy. If the dialogues fail it will harm only the people and the political parties, nothing will happen to the government as it is only a caretaker one, he added.
About the cases filed against detained former premiers Sheikh Hasina and Khaleda Zia, he said, "The cases against Hasina and Khaleda will not stand if they have public support, so the political parties should participate in the dialogues. They may launch movements for their leaders' release but at the same time they should participate in the talks."
Dr Syed Anwar Hossain said, "The Bangladesh we have now is not the one we wanted to have through the liberation war, that Bangladesh was hijacked from us."
He suggested reinstating the original constitution framed in 1972, 'with some minor corrections in it'.
SSA President Ajoy Ray presided over the meeting while its General Secretary Advocate Tobarok Hossain moderated the session also addressed by Dr Hamida Hossain, and Hayat Mamud, among others.