'Resist black money holders to bring change to politics'
UNB, Dhaka
Eminent lawyer Dr Kamal Hossain yesterday called for resisting untaxed and black money holders from entering parliament to ensure a meaningful change in politics."If the black money holders cannot be controlled, they will sit in parliament and resist efforts to bring change to the lot of the common people," he cautioned while addressing the 5th National Council of Bangladesh Jatiya Sramik Jote at the Institution of Engineers in the city. Chaired by Shirin Akhter, the function was also addressed by General Secretary of Bangladesh Economic Society Dr Abul Barakat, JSD Chhatra League President Shariful Islam and former DUCSU VP Mahfuza Khanam. Dr Kamal said, "Even after 34 years of independence, we have failed to make a meaningful change to the fate of the countrymen. By the time, disparities among the people have widened and the common people have become to hostage to political criminals." "Bangladesh has now become a detracted vehicle. We have to put it back right on the track. We have to identify the black money holders and drive them out of political parties and salvage the sinking people. Now we need a representative democracy," he said. Dr Kamal said, "After the liberation war, we made a commitment in the Constitution to make a society to be free from financial exploitation. It has an option to discourage 'unearned income'. But the words 'unearned income' have been erased from the Constitution and now all are encouraging the unearned income, and that's why we're becoming champion in corruption." Despite that there are a number of laws to control black money, but those laws are hardly enforced, he added. Dr Kamal said, "A section of people's representatives are depositing their black money in the banks of different island countries like Singapore and British Virgin Island where only a number, not the client's name is mentioned. We want to identify them." Dr Abul Barakat said 75 percent MPs got elected spending Tk 128 crore although the permissible limit was only Tk 5 lakh. "If one becomes parliamentarian spending such huge amount of money, how we can expect from them to be free from corruption?" he asked. Dr Barakat presented a 21-point recommendation for the proposed 'national government'.
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