Law Commission chairman feels Bangladesh laws not used well

Law Commission Chairman and former chief justice ABM Khairul Haque has observed that while there is no dearth of laws in Bangladesh, they are hardly enforced.

He considers this to be a huge problem.

"It is really very sad. The plethora of laws we have in our country is huge. I'm not sure if the United Kingdom has so many laws of its own. But here we have no enforcement", he said at a discussion on Food Security at the Chittagong Press Club on Wednesday.

He said that enforcement of laws would continue to remain a far cry as long as there was a lack of mass awareness.

Narrating anecdotes from his student days in Britain, where he also worked for some time, he remembered his visit to the tax office there.

"I remember a lady telling the man at the desk, 'Do you know I pay for your wages?'", he remembered.

He said that the lady was certainly aware of her rights.

Addressing the audience, he wondered if they knew that they too had these rights and if they too were ready to use them or act in the face of the violation of these rights.

Haque said, "This country belongs to you and that's a fact, more than just a line in the constitution." 

He reminded everyone that heads of government and bureaucrats were all public servants.

Speaking of the Food Security Bill, he said that it is the constitutional right of the people.

He lauded the government’s efforts at 'supporting' various ethnic groups even without laws.

He said that he had learnt a lot from his Kurhigram visit and said that there should be a chapter on special crisis areas.