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Former Chief Justice and Chief Adviser to caretaker government Justice Habibur Rahman today (Monday) observed that the Constitution is not being followed in running the country.

“The Supreme Court’s judgement is not being followed and that is unexpected. This is a serious and dangerous situation,” he said.

He was speaking as chief guest at a discussion on “Human Security in Bangladesh: Recent Trends and Responses” at the CIRDAP auditorium. It was organised by the Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD).

Justice Rahman said the problem of human security is very critical now while the country has become sharply divided. He called for working together to overcome the present situation.

Dr Shahdeen Malik, advocate of the Supreme Court, presented the keynote paper based on UNDP’s publication on “Human Security in Bangladesh: In Search of Justice and Dignity.” Malik in his paper said that ensuring security means prevention of crimes.

The point was echoed by all other participants many of whom also suggested that corruption stood out as the root problem that threatened human security. Eminent lawyer Dr Kamal Hossain said that the country’s 80 per cent illiterate people were not the problem. “We, the educated and white-collar people are the protectors of godfathers, possessors of black money… and are responsible for the present state of human security.”

He said none should blame the Constitution for the present state of human security “because personal responsibility goes with the Constitution. We have failed to go by the Constitution.” “In this situation, we need conscious madcap persons who are brave and who don’t care for their personal damage,” Dr Kamal said adding that a healthy politics would require regeneration.

“We are the victims… we are powerless, because we are not holding hands together,” he said and called for getting united to root out all evils from society. Awami League leader Surunjit Sen Gupta MP, defending other speakers’ allegations against the politicians for the present state of human security, said there are different types of politicians.

“Some are politicians of ideology and some for opportunity. Some come to power by suspending the Constitution and some to uphold it,” he said.He called upon all segments of society to get united to salvage the country from the present situation.Jaitya Party MP GM Kader, AL leader Abdul Matin Khasru, Prof Muntanisr Mamun, former IG Dr Enamul Huq, Workers’ Party leader Abul Bashar and Barrister Amirul Islam were among others who took part in the discussion.