During the 2018 election campaign, Shah Ali Farhad, who works in the Awami League's Centre for Research and Information, wrote in the Bangla Tribune that Kamal Hossain was a "not so conscientious" politician. He criticized Hossain for holding the presidency of Gono Forum since its founding, arguing that the party had "no prospects of a new leadership in sight". Hossain has been labelled a "Pakistani collaborator" and a "Ahmadi" Muslim, despite being one of Bangladesh's founding leaders and a Sunni Muslim. He has been accused of betraying the family of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.