Dr Kamal Hossain blames himself for the state of the nation

Senior lawyer and politician Dr Kamal Hossain has said the nation is in a terrible state and blamed himself for this.

Staff Correspondentbdnews24.com
Published : 1 Oct 2014, 04:38 PM
Updated : 1 Oct 2014, 04:38 PM

Dr Hossain, one of the draftees of the Constitution, said at a meeting in Dhaka on Wednesday, “We have come to a terrible situation. Though it may sting, the truth is I and many amongst us are to be blamed for this.”

“I am the guiltiest. You look to me for everything – that makes me responsible for all this,” he said.

File Photo

Kamal expressed his frustration at the state of ruling party Awami League.

“This was my party. I’d been with them for 30 years. In 2007, the BNP tried to split 300 seats taking Jamaat(-e-Islami) along, and we prevented that. In 2014 Awami League has done it,” he said.

He was referring to the Jan 5 general elections where over half of the MPs were uncontested winners.

He said having 153 uncontested MPs in Parliament was ‘extraordinary’. “Who knows, maybe in future all 300 seats will be uncontested!”

“Less than 20 percent people voted in the Jan 5 elections. The rest are not all BNP-Jamaat, they also include ordinary people like you and me.”

Dr Hossain, a top lawyer of Bangladesh, spoke about his bitter experiences in the legal profession.

“They’re unqualified, untalented, just purely loyal. They are completely subservient, whether it’s the judiciary or the executive,” he said.

Kamal reminisced about the politics of the 1960s, comparing it to the present days.

“In the ‘60s we hadn’t heard words like ‘chadabaaj, tenderbaaj’ (extortionists). Now there is no qualitative difference between Chhatra Dal and Chhatra League. They pose with guns in front of TV cameras. They have gone above the law.”

“We have come to a position where talking won’t solve anything. We’ll talk today and go back home. Nothing will change,” he told his audience.

People were his only source of hope, Hossain said.

The Awami League alleges that Dr Kamal Hossain, the Gana Forum president, was an ardent supporter of the military-backed caretaker regime.

“Ordinary people are extraordinary. They are the ones who have sacrificed the most,” he said.

Nur Hossain, a martyr of the ‘80s anti-Ershad movement, was his inspiration, Kamal said.

“He was the son of a van puller. He was shot just 10 yards from me,” he said.