Parliament
Police too have the right to protection when under attack, Hasina tells Parliament
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Thursday told the Parliament that police have the right to protect themselves when they come under attack.
“Won’t the police have the right to protect themselves when they come under attack just because they are police? Their remarks seem that they (police) can do nothing even after bombs, sticks and brickbats are hurled toward them or they come under gun attack,” she said.
Hasina made the remarks as opposition BNP MP Rumeen Farhana earlier claimed in the House that the party’s recent protest programmes came under attacks in different places including Bhola contrary to the PM’s clear instructions.
The premier said police did nothing where BNP’s movement and programmes were peaceful.
“It is normal that opposition parties will wage movement. Yes, I told police to do nothing. It is right. But the police said (did) nothing first. If a man comes under attack, that person has the right to protection, let alone police,” she said.
Hasina, also the Leader of the House, was delivering her valedictory speech in the 19th session of the current parliament.
Read: BNP vows to avenge blood of its slain workers by ousting the govt
She said she promised that no one would say anything in case of peaceful procession and movement. “Where the programmes are peaceful, no one would anything there,” she said.
She said BNP men try to go for attack or create a situation for media coverage.
Criticising a section of media and opposition parties, the PM said they are spreading frustration in recent times as if everything is going to be destroyed. “But they (critics) are in good condition.”
Referring to a recent report of the World Bank, she said Bangladesh is not at food risk. The IMF also in its evaluation on August 16 last remarked that Bangladesh is in no crisis, she added.
President prorogues the Parliament
The 19th session of the 11th Parliament was prorogued on Thursday after five sittings.
Speaker Shirin Sharmin Chaudhury read out the prorogation order of the president at 8:48pm.
The Parliament in this session elected Shamsul Hoque Tuku as the deputy speaker.
Three bills were passed in the House during the session that convened on August 28.
Some 37 questions were received for the prime minister to respond. She replied to 15 questions.
Read: Parliament passes Public Debt bill by voice vote
The session received 986 questions for different ministers and they replied to 369 questions.
Besides, two proposals were adopted in the Parliament after discussions in this session.
One proposal was on government measures to deal with the Covid-19 pandemic, global unrest following Russia-Ukraine war and another was on the need for identifying the masterminds of August 15 carnage in 1975.
JP seeks to remove ailing Raushan as leader of opposition in Parliament
Jatiya Party Parliamentary Party on Thursday handed over a letter to Speaker Shirin Sharmin Chaudhury requesting her to recognise party chairman GM Quader as the leader of opposition in the Parliament.
Currently, Raushan Ershad is the opposition leader who has been abroad for a long time for medical treatment with GM Quader as her deputy.
A delegation of JP led by the party’s secretary general and a JP MP Mujibul Haque Chunnu submitted the letter to the Speaker at the latter’s office this evening.
Also read: Parliament passes Public Debt bill by voice vote
“Opposition leader is sick for a long time, so she is unable to come to the Parliament due to her sickness. The Parliamentary Party took the decision at a meeting where 23 out of 26 MPs were present and one MP telephoned his consent saying that he will sign the letter later,” Chunnu said.
Earlier, the Jatiya Party Parliamentary Party at a meeting at its office at the Jatiya Sangsad Bhaban decided to make the change and send the decision to the Speaker, Chunnu said.
Raushan is now under treatment at a hospital in Bangkok.
Also read: Law minister introduces Evidence (Amendment) Bill in Parliament
Parliament passes Public Debt bill by voice vote
The Parliament on Thursday unanimously passed a bill providing for precise guarantee that the government will return the money taken as debt from the public under any circumstances.
The Public Debt Bill, 2022 was passed by voice vote after Finance Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal introduced it in the House.
It will now be sent to the president for signing it into a law.
Also read: Law minister introduces Evidence (Amendment) Bill in Parliament
The proposed legislation will replace the British-era law, The Public Debt Act 1944, which was extended on several occasions.
The Finance Division said the law is necessary as the debt system witnessed a radical change over the years.
According to the proposed law, the government will give a precise guarantee against the debt taken by the government from people that they would get back the deposited money anyhow.
Also read: Mass Media bill goes back to JS committee for second time
A new provision was also incorporated in it for running a Shariah-based deposit system alongside the normal deposit system.
The public would be informed about the profits or interest against their deposits.
If anyone does provide false information in obtaining the issued certificates under the government security and saving certificate schemes, that person would face maximum six-month imprisonment plus Tk one lakh fine or both.
Parliament vows to identify masterminds of Aug 15 carnage
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Wednesday told Parliament that time has come to identify the masterminds behind the August 15 assassination of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and most of his family members.
“This plot was not a mere killing. Rather it was against our country, independence and ideology. Time has to find out those who were behind the conspiracy,” she said.
The premier said this joining the general discussion on a resolution passed in the Parliament to express hatred towards the clique of murderers and conspirators who killed Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and take oath under the leadership of his daughter Sheikh Hasina to thwart all conspiracies being hatched by the followers of the clique.
She said the nation needs to unmask the faces of conspirators of this carnage before the nation. “I think the faces must be revealed one day,” she said.
“I’ve been doing politics taking all on board. I didn’t go to take revenge against anyone. I relied on the trial process,” she said, adding that her only goal is to continue working for the people of the country with all her strengths, not taking revenge.
Noting that those who had directly been involved in the killing were tried, Hasina said efforts are going on to bring the fugitive convicted killers back.
Coming down heavily on the critics of her government, she said, “What an unfortunate thing for us! Some people are there who always criticize us and don’t see anything good no matter how much work we do. They will spread propaganda.”
When the international organisations remark that Bangladesh is in no risk, some people are there inside the country who are misleading the people, she said.
Read: JS committee on Home Ministry gets new chair
The PM said today Bangladesh is getting respect from the entire world, but some people of Bangladesh are carrying out propaganda to underestimate the country and mislead the people.
“It seems that the ghosts of the anti-liberation and the August 15 killers are still active in the country,” she said.
Treasury bench member RAM Obaidul Muktadir Chowdhury placed the proposal in the House under the section-147 of the rules of procedure. Later, the proposal was adopted unanimously by a voice vote following a discussion over it.
In the proposal, the lawmaker said, “The parliament is in opinion that we’re expressing deep hatred towards the hateful gang of murderers and conspirators who cruelly and mercilessly killed Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and most of his family members on August 15, 1975. But the ghosts of the plotters have not still become inactive. Even today they are continuing their despicable activities to return to state power and turn the wheel of history back. Their despicable plot should not be allowed to succeed. Standing at the foot of history, remembering all the martyrs including Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the greatest personality of Bengali, with a humble heart and respect, and taking an oath to thwart all the plots under the leadership of Bangabandhu's younger daughter, Sheikh Hasina, in the 19th session of the 11th Parliament, let this be firm declaration.”
A total of 24 MPs participated in the around five-hour long discussion. But no MP from the BNP participated in it.
Treasury bench MPs and the lawmakers of the main opposition in parliament—Jatiya Party highly lauded the visionary and historic role of the Father of the Nation for liberating the country.
Participating in the discussion, Law Minister Anisul Huq informed the House that the government will form an inquiry commission to find out the conspirators of the Bangabandhu killing by December 31 this year.
Saying that military ruler Ziaur Rahman was directly involved in the assassination of Bangabandhu, Awami League MP and former state minister for Liberation War Affairs Minister AB Tajul Islam said family members of Zia have no rights to live in Bangladesh.
AL MP Aminul Islam said BNP won’t be able to find any path to flee if Awami League men take to the streets.
Workers Party President Rashed Khan Menon demanded the formation of a National Commission of Inquiry to uncover the nature of the conspiracy to kill Bangabandhu.
Russia-Ukraine war may strain Bangladesh’s balance of payments, PM Hasina tells Parliament
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Wednesday said COVID-19 pandemic and Russia-Ukraine war may have a negative impact on country’s balance of payments. She was replying to a tabled question from Jatiya Party MP Mashiur Rahman Ranga during PM’s question-answer session.
She also cited the weak growth of world economy, disruption of the supply chain, increase of cost of fuel oil, gas, food products, consumer goods, industrial raw materials and international freight cost in the global market, decline in exports, negative growth of remittances as among the factors behind a possible negative impact on Bangladesh’s balance of payment.
Hasina, also the leader of the House, said her government has demonstrated remarkable success in keeping both the budget deficit and debt levels at sustainable and bearable levels for the past 14 years.
She said that it has been possible to keep the budget deficit within five per cent of GDP despite various domestic and international economic problems including the Corona pandemic situation.
The debt and GDP ratio is also at the comfortable level, she added.
She also said that at the end of 2021-22 fiscal year, debt and GDP ratio was 34 per cent, which is well below of the internationally recognised debt status threshold for Bangladesh.
She also highlighted various steps of the government to deal the situation.
Replying to another question of Jatiya Party MP from Dhaka Syed Abu Hossain, the PM said that there is no electricity crisis in the country considering the fact that the country has the production capacity in line with the demand.
Read: PM participates in extended discussion in JS on global roots of local suffering
She, however, said efforts are on to get rid of the problem – caused by ongoing global fuel oil crisis - through maintaining austerity in using electricity and planned load-shedding to save fuel oil.
She mentioned that despite having the capacity of electricity production, in some cases the government has imposed load shedding between 1000-2000MW for saving the fuel oil.
“The government has taken various measurers to keep the load shedding to a limited scale to tackle the ongoing global crisis,” she said.
She, however, hoped that the current power cuts would end sooner than later. The situation, she said, is expected to improve when the electricity generated from the new coal-based power stations is transmitted to the national grid and if the austerity could be ensured in electricity usage.
Replying to ruling party MP M Shahidul Islam (Bakul) from Natore, the prime minister said that currently the country has a total of 7.01 metric tonnes of refined and crude oil which can meet the demands of 30-35 days.
“By this time two vessels with carrying fuel oil will reach the country keeping fuel oil supply uninterrupted,” she said.
She said that import schedule of fuel oil considering the country’s need for the next six months (July-December) has been ensured with the supplying company.
In response to a question from Habibur Rahman, a member of Bogra-5 Constituency, the PM said that a total of 6,836 Bangladeshi peacekeepers are currently engaged in 8 peacekeeping missions under the United Nations, of which 521 are women.
A total of 161 Bangladeshi peacekeepers have been killed and 258 injured so far while discharging their duties in the mission, she said.
Law minister introduces Evidence (Amendment) Bill in Parliament
A bill seeking the admissibility of digital evidences during any court trial was placed in the Parliament on Wednesday.
The ‘Evidence (Amendment) Bill, 2022’ incorporating the admissibility of digital evidences by the court was introduced by Law Minister Anisul Huq
It was then sent to the relevant standing committee for further examination and submits its report within 30 days.
The digital evidences will be accepted once the bill is passed into a law.
Evidence, documents and such other things were coming online after the inception of digital or online trials of cases amid the Covid-19 pandemic. There is nothing directly mentioned about online or digital evidences in the existing Evidence Act.
With the existing law, many legal complicacies might appear if any aggrieved person files a petition with the higher court, challenging the verdict of the lower court in case of acceptance of digital evidence or documents.
In the draft law, a provision was kept for making forensic examination of digital evidence.
If the court thinks necessary or any party of the case doubts about the authenticity of such evidence, these can be gone through forensic examination.
Read: Universal pension scheme bill placed in Parliament
Sufficient laboratories are there in the country for forensic examination of digital evidence and BCC has also very high technology in this regard.
The government might spread the laboratories and technology to convenient places of the country for the sake of submission of digital evidence.
The submission of false or manipulated evidence would be punished as per the laws concerned.
If anyone twists (tampers) evidence, the persons will be dealt with as per the section 211 of the Penal Code or the section 57 of the Digital Act.
The proposed law said that in a prosecution for an offence of rape or attempt to rape, no question can be asked in the cross-examination as to general immoral character or previous sexual behaviour of the victim.
It also mentioned that such question can only be asked with the permission of the court necessary in the interest of justice.
According to the proposed law, digital record or electronic record means any record or information generated, prepared, sent, received or stored in magnetic, electro-magnetic, optical or micro films, computer memory, computer-generated microfiche including audio, video, DVD, CCTV footage, drone data and records from cell phone, hardware, software or any other digital device as defined in Digital Security Act, 2018.
Besides, finger, palm and iris impressions and digital footprints, signatures and certificates will also be admissible as evidence before a court.
Health minister places icddr,b bill in Parliament
The International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Bangladesh Act, 2022 was placed in the Parliament on Tuesday in order to repeal the military regime ordinance over the icddr,b in line with a verdict of the higher court.
Health Minister Zahid Maleque placed the Bill and it was sent to the respective standing committee for further examination. The Committee was asked to submit its report within one month.
As per the Bill, the institution shall be an autonomous, international, philanthropic, and non-profit Centre for research, education and training as well as clinical service.
The headquarters of the Centre shall be at Dhaka. The Centre may establish its branches any place in the country subject to the approval of the respective governments.
The Bill said that there will be a board consists of 12-17 members. Of them four members will be nominated by the Government, a member nominated by the World Health Organisation, a member to be nominated by a United Nations agency, 5-10 members nominated by the Board and executive director of the Centre.
Read: Bill streamlining regulations for medical/dental colleges passes into law
At any given time, no country shall have more than two members except for Bangladesh.
All members will be appointed for three years and it can be extended for one time. No member can be appointed for more than six years.
The Centre shall be administered by a Director who shall be selected and appointed by the Board for a term of three years which may be renewable for another term.
The Centre shall have its own fund which shall consist of grants made by the Government, grants and contributions from other Governments and their agencies, international organisations and private organisations, gifts and endowments, sale proceeds and royalties of publications, income from research and contractual undertakings; and other sources.
All funds of the Centre shall be kept in any scheduled Bank or Banks in Bangladesh as approved by the Board.
The Centre shall be exempted from the labour laws in force in the country. It shall be governed by its own by-laws as may be prescribed.
The Centre shall not be liable to pay any tax, rate or duty other than those paid by any other person in respect of any movable or immovable property which the Centre purchases or otherwise acquires from such person and other than those payable in respect of public utilities like water, gas, electricity, telephone and municipal rates.
All non-Bangladeshi experts, technicians and research scholars employed by the Centre and working in Bangladesh for the furtherance of the objectives of the Centre shall be exempt from paying income tax.
Universal pension scheme bill placed in Parliament
A bill aimed at bringing the country’s growing elderly population under a universal pension scheme was introduced in the Parliament on Monday.
Finance Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal placed the Universal Pension Management Bill, 2022 in the House. It was later sent to the respective scrutiny committee for further examination. The committee was asked to submit its report within two months.
All Bangladeshi nationals aged from 18 to 50 years can participate in this pension scheme. The expatriate Bangladeshis are also eligible to the benefits.
Also read: Speaker nominates 5-member panel for 19th Parliament session
The Finance Division has prepared the draft of bill seeking to bring the growing elderly population under a sustainable social safety net. This will particularly benefit the elderly population when they become jobless or become afflicted with diseases, paralysis, old age or other similar conditions, or extreme poverty amid high life expectancy rate.
As per the draft law, a person will have to provide premium for at least 10 years to get pension from the age of 60 until the death.
If an elderly person dies before the age 75 years, the nominee will get the pension for the remaining time.
Also read: President summons Parliament session on Sunday
However, the amount of premium will be determined by a rule under the proposed law.
According to the proposed law, there will be a five-member national pension authority headed by a chairman and also a 15-member governing body with the finance minister as its chair.
The government will appoint the chairman and the other four members.
Finance Minister will be the chairman of the governing body where the other members will be the Bangladesh Bank governor, finance secretary, financial institutions division secretary, NBR chairman, social welfare secretary, secretary of woman and child affairs ministry, expatriate welfare and overseas employment secretary, labour and employment secretary, post and telecommunication division secretary, PMO secretary, BSEC chairman, FBCCI president, Bangladesh Employers Federation president, BWCCI president and the executive chairman.
The governing body will hold at least three meetings each year.
The main office of the authority will be in Dhaka and its branches can be established in any place of the country taking prior permission.
The inclusion in this pension scheme will be voluntarily unless the government issues any gazette for making it compulsory.
PM showers praises on Fazle Rabbi
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Sunday told Parliament that the late deputy speaker Fazle Rabbi Miah was very popular as he was elected MP repeatedly on public trust and confidence.
“He was elected MP time and again from his constituency. He even won the election changing his political party. It means that his personal popularity and acceptance to the people is incomparable,” she said.
The premier was speaking on a condolence motion on the death of Deputy Speaker Fazle Rabbi Miah MP, and former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and five former MPs.
Also read: Deputy Speaker Fazle Rabbi passes away in NY
She said Fazle Rabbi, as the deputy speaker, had performed his responsibilities with competence.
Hasina, the leader of the House, said public trust and confidence is very important for any political leader. “He (Fazle Rabbi Miah) successfully had been able to gain these.”
She said he had always worked sincerely for the overall development of his constituents. “He was a dedicated soul and contributed to society in many ways. His death is a huge loss for us,” said the PM.
Hasina expressed profound sympathy to the bereaved family members including, Fazle Rabbi’s daughter.
Expressing deep shock at the death of former Japanese premier Shinzo Abe, the Bangladesh Prime Minister said the Japanese leader was a true friend of Bangladesh.
The five former MPs who died are freedom fighter M Abu Saleh (Ganoparishad member), Abbas Ali Mondal, Alhaj Md Karim Uddin Bharsha, Mohammad Shoab and Khurshed Ara Haque.
Also read: Deputy Speaker Fazle Rabbi’s mortal remains arrive in Dhaka
Later, the condolence motion was passed by a voice vote.