A heated exchange took place in Parliament on Thursday between Leader of the Opposition Dr Shafiqur Rahman and Home Minister Salahuddin Ahmed over remarks made during the previous day’s session.
The verbal clash began during a ‘Point of Order’ after the question-and-answer session when the Opposition Leader raised the issue in a sarcastic tone, prompting a strong reaction from the Home Minister.
"Yesterday, after we left the House, the Honorable Home Minister was kind enough to claim I had spoken untruths. Verily, Allah has gifted him with extraordinary skill. He can change the bottle while keeping the contents intact—expertly presenting truth as falsehood and falsehood as truth. I have stood today simply to thank him for that,” said Shafiqur.
Speaker Hafiz Uddin Ahmed intervened, noting that points of order should concern current matters rather than past proceedings.
"This matter was settled yesterday. There is no need to raise it anew," the Speaker said advising the Home Minister not to respond.
He added that had the Opposition Leader been present in the House during the original remarks, a ‘Right of Reply’ would have been granted then.
However, Home Minister Salahuddin Ahmed took the floor to protest Dr. Rahman’s choice of words.
"The Honorable Leader of the Opposition has used two unparliamentary words—specifically the word ‘lie’ .Had he said ‘untruth’, I would not have objected. I request that the word ‘lie’ be expunged from the record," the Minister stated.
Defending his previous day’s stance, the Home Minister explained that the Opposition’s claim was factually incorrect.
He noted that the Speaker had accepted a private member's resolution under Rule 62 long after the Opposition had staged a walkout.
"How could that be considered as already tabled or read? Therefore, I maintain that his statement was untrue," Ahmed added.
Responding to the Minister, Dr. Shafiqur argued that the confusion stemmed from the fact that the same proposal had been brought forward by an independent MP under a different name.
"The proposal remained the same; only the name changed. I spoke based on the earlier version I was aware of. I provided no misinformation," the minister countered.
While the Home Minister formally requested the expunging of the word ‘lie,’ the Speaker did not provide an immediate ruling.
Parliamentary tradition in Bangladesh dictates that the word "untruth" is used instead of "lie", a practice reinforced by multiple past rulings from the Chair.
The underlying tension traces back to March 29, when the Leader of the Opposition moved an adjournment motion regarding a meeting of the Constitution Reform Council.
Subsequently, independent MP Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Iqbal moved another motion regarding the implementation of the ‘July National Charter.’
While those motions remained pending, the Speaker accepted a fresh adjournment motion on Wednesday from Treasury Bench MP Zainul Abdin Farroque regarding the implementation of the same Charter.
The Opposition staged a walkout on Wednesday alleging that their original proposals were being suppressed in favor of the government’s version.
Discussion on the newly accepted motion is scheduled for next Sunday.