Writer and thinker Professor Salimullah Khan said, 'When our constitution implementation committee was formed, they all went to Dr. He went to meet Mr. Kamal Hossain. Dr. What does Kamal Hossain understand about the constitution? It was written in the constitution of Bangladesh that the sovereignty is in the parliament. This is a complete misconception. Sovereignty is ownership. The source of all power is the people. People are the center of power. Source means, you (the people) gave power, for another to run. You (the people) don't give ownership, you give management power.'
He said this while speaking as a guest speaker at the Dhaka Metropolitan North Police Station representative meeting of the National Citizen Committee on Tuesday (January 19) at a convention hall in the capital's Gulshan.
This professor of the University of Liberal Arts Bangladesh said, 'Those who are elected to the parliament in the state are great managers. Owners hire them. If they do not perform their duties properly, the owner has the right to fire them. The rule of the constitution of Bangladesh is five years. If he neglects his duty within five years, the people have the power to impeach him. This is sovereignty.'
Professor Salimullah Khan said, 'Sovereignty is an undivided whole. 18 crore people of Bangladesh are sovereign. One does not have sovereignty over two. But we practically entrusted it to one person, one family. This is our historical mistake or failure. Sovereignty cannot be sold, nor can it be given away. That's why the parliament is elected to give certain tasks, not to be the owner. That which is given, the weight of fixed rule.'
Mass intellectual Salimullah Khan said, 'Bangladesh is not formed without that. The incident happened in 1971. I did not fight the liberation war by writing the constitution. After the liberation war came the responsibility or power to write the constitution. We abused it. To give an example, the constitution which was written in 1972, is currently in limbo. The main problem of that constitution is three parts. Rights of the people (in the form of propositions), basic principles of governance and fundamental rights. The rest of the five parts of the constitution have the rule of bureaucracy first. First of which is the executive department. The chief bureaucrats are the Prime Minister, the President. At the very root of the constitution is the irresistible power of the bureaucracy. The powers of elected representatives of the people are then given. Which is called Sangsad or Law Legislature. The third part is the judiciary. The rest would have continued even if it was not in the constitution, but it would have been in other laws.'
Professor Salimullah said, 'The elected constitution reform commission is proposing that the judiciary should be independent. But before that the legislature has to give authority. The government, administration and bureaucracy have to set up their representatives. But if you say, make a permanent council, that is the power not to understand the main problem. You do not understand, that is manifesting in the form of power. Which will guard the state all the time even if there is no government.'
He also said, 'If the people who own the sovereignty are in power all the time, then those who will be elected by their votes will be the legislature. The state belongs to everyone. And the government is appointed by the people for a fixed term. Dhaka-1, Dhaka-2, Kushtia-1, Kushtia-2 seats why? The people of a particular geographical area elect one representative, if there are 300 across the country, they form the parliament. So how does the representative of one place make the law of the whole nation?'
Writer and thinker Salimullah said, 'Meanwhile, those who once came to power for five years, increased it to ten years, increased ten years to fifty years, and tried to extend fifty years, they suddenly fell. It is torn by pulling and pulling.'
He said, 'As long as sovereignty exists, its owner is the people. We will occasionally hire Govt. If the government breaks the law or breaks promises, we will remove it. Constitution making is the work of people's representatives. The main problem is whether the constitution will be according to the will of the people or not? It should be implemented as the students want.'
The professor said, 'If a country runs above politics, then political parties are essential. A democratic state cannot function without political parties. Now there is a little doubt among the existing political parties, what will happen to us if the young students form a party on their principles?'
He said, 'I want to tell them that if we really want to build a democratic state, we will need many political parties. Another political party is also needed to guard whether a political party is running the country properly or not. Those who come to power, if they are not accountable to the people, then they will go astray, which is almost 90% certain. Because history is a witness. We will form some kind of state, our political party must be like that.'
He further said, 'There will be no discrimination between people, humiliation, exploitation and torture will end. That is why Bangladesh was made independent. But we could not fulfill that promise in the last 53-54 years. When there is a lack of justice in society, democracy-equality is blocked, and inequality is established.'
Salimullah Khan said, 'We all know that discrimination in Bangladesh has increased, humiliation, torture, sleep and abductions, murders have all happened in stages. We have not received the promises of liberation war in 53 years. Now a possibility has been created in the movement of July August 2024. Whether we can implement that, we are in the face of his test.
In the event, the former professor of law department of Dhaka University. Mainul Ahsan Khan said, 'If there was a war according to intellectuals, then the country would not have been independent. According to intellectuals, if there was a movement, there would not have been a revolution. Law is there to prevent injustice. And the law of our country is to protect all injustices. Notice, those who have no choice, the law always oppresses and exploits them.'
National Citizen Committee convener Nasiruddin Patwari, member secretary Akhtar Hossain, spokesperson Samanta Sharmin, chief organizer Sarjis Alam and others were present in the event.
