Professor Dr. Ali Riaz, head of the Constitutional Reform Commission, has commented that democracy is the way to create dissent.
He said this at a discussion titled ‘The Journey of Democracy, Upcoming Challenges and Ways to Overcome It’ organized by Brain and Adarsha Prakashni at Bangla Academy on Thursday (October 24) afternoon.
He said, ‘Democracy is the way to create dissent. Democracy is about being together even with dissent. We will agree on some issues, but we will disagree on many issues.
Regarding the attitude of many that nothing can be changed through reforms, Professor Dr. Ali Riaz said, just as institutions themselves do not collapse, they cannot be created either, but you and I can create them.
The head of the Constitutional Reform Commission said, institutions are not just state institutions; the most important of them is the political party. Without political parties, there is no democracy, there is no state. If you talk about democracy, you have to talk about multi-party politics.
Awami League was a big party, such a big uprising, so much bloodshed - not a single person of them expressed regret. What a terrible situation, he added.
Professor Dr. Ali Riaz said, have you seen any change in any political party in the country that they themselves want to change through such a big movement? I can't see it.
He said, whether you will reform the state, reform the constitution, reform the election commission or not is a different matter. But if the political parties do not take the first step in terms of political reform - then what can you expect?
Umama Fatema, coordinator of the anti-discrimination student movement, said, the political parties are now asking for some kind of election to be held. But the people did not want this in the movement. The political parties were also there for the first 15 days, but now it seems that they are saying one thing with their mouths and another in their hearts.
He said, I am a student, I am young, I understand less. But how can you take advantage of me by understanding less.
Political analyst Syed Abdullah said, Hasina has changed but the police has not changed a bit in the places where changes are needed. Awami League has put its most brutal Chhatra League leader in charge of the police investigation. But they are still sitting there.
Journalist Shahed Alam said, we are all talking about being united. Some are also talking about recognizing BNP, some are talking about criticizing it. However, we have to be careful about one thing, so that we do not want to bring everyone to one ideology like Awami League. Everyone will have their own ideology, thoughts and will also be united.
Journalist Monir Haider said, Chief Adviser Dr. Yunus said that their employers are students. Now those students are coming and criticizing the government again. Earlier, we used to see many ministers coming and giving revolutionary speeches so that no one could come and say anything to them. This is supposed to be our talk. The students can know if they want, so why are they raising this question? So where will we go?
He said, "You are also giving the same speeches that BNP and Awami League have been giving for 52 years, and you are getting applause, so where is the difference? We want a difference." Political analyst Dr. Zahed Ur Rahman said, "There is no need for excessive ambition. We have to think realistically, leaving aside the thought that everything will change in a country. If we get a fairly effective democracy, I am happy with that."