Dr. Kamal Hossain, Politician and one of the key authors of the Constitution: Our struggle for freedom began through a non-cooperative movement. Everyone had worked together to cripple the Pakistani government. Through that power of the people, we declared our independence. In 9 months we achieved our historic victory. We were unified in our goals, our claim justified – thus we were able achieve the impossible.
There was no distinction between village and city. People from all backgrounds took part in the Liberation War. They contributed whatever they could. At that time, the West said that these demands were city-based. The demands for 6-point, 11-point and autonomy will have no hold over the countryside. But such doubts and suspicions were proved wrong. Every village took part in the fight for freedom. More than a crore were injured while 30 lakh people were martyred. Lakhs of women were violated.
The dream with which we took part in the Liberation War has been reflected in the constitution. Bangabandhu and the other leaders of the Liberation War have signed this document, in which it has been clearly stated what kind of state system was in our dream – Democracy. The people will hold power. Their representatives will be elected through fair elections and will exercise their power at all levels.
To achieve the Bangladesh that we desired, we have to wage a unified movement. We have a lot of shortfalls. We have to wage movement in order to ensure the expectations of the people are met and to prevent another election like that of January 5. We have to protect the country and its people through unified movement. The people have the power, we have to protect them. Their power is being instigated, so it has to be protected through unified struggle.
Translated by Abrar Hussain