Tensions flared in Parliament on Thursday as Leader of the Opposition Dr Shafiqur Rahman and Home Minister Salahuddin Ahmed engaged in a heated exchange over statements made during Wednesday’s session.
The confrontation began during a ‘Point of Order’ when Dr Shafiqur sarcastically referred to Salahuddin Ahmed’s previous comments. “Yesterday, the Honourable Home Minister suggested I spoke falsely. Truly, he has a remarkable talent for turning truth into falsehood and vice versa. I rise today simply to acknowledge that skill,” he said.
Speaker Hafiz Uddin Ahmed intervened, reminding members that points of order should address current proceedings rather than past discussions.
“This issue was already addressed yesterday. There’s no need to revisit it now,” the Speaker said, advising that a ‘Right of Reply’ would have been granted if the Opposition Leader had been present during the original remarks.
Despite the Speaker’s intervention, Home Minister Salahuddin Ahmed took the floor to contest Dr Shafiqur’s language.
“The Opposition Leader used two unparliamentary terms, including ‘lie’. Had he said ‘untruth’, I would not have objected. I formally request that ‘lie’ be expunged from the record,” he said.
Defending his previous statement, the Home Minister maintained that the Opposition’s claim was factually inaccurate.
He noted that a private member’s resolution had been accepted under Rule 62 after the opposition had staged a walkout, which, in his view, contradicted Dr Shafiqur’s remarks.
Dr Shafiqur responded, saying the confusion arose because the same proposal had been tabled by an independent MP under a different name.
“The proposal itself remained unchanged; only the proposer’s name differed. I spoke based on the version I knew and did not provide false information,” he said.
The Speaker did not immediately rule on the Home Minister’s request to expunge the word ‘lie’. Parliamentary convention in Bangladesh typically requires the use of ‘untruth’ instead of ‘lie’, a practice supported by multiple prior rulings.
The disagreement traces back to 29 March, when the Opposition Leader moved an adjournment motion concerning a meeting of the Constitution Reform Council. Later, independent MP Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Iqbal moved a similar motion regarding the ‘July National Charter.’
While these earlier motions remained pending, the Speaker accepted a fresh adjournment motion on Wednesday from Treasury Bench MP Zainul Abdin Farroque on the same Charter, prompting the Opposition to stage a walkout over concerns that their proposals were sidelined.
Discussion on the newly accepted motion is set for next Sunday.
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