United News of Bangladesh

A parliamentary special committee on Tuesday agreed to recommend that the indemnity ordinance issued under the interim government to provide legal protection to individuals including students who participated in the July Uprising of 2024, be adopted in full as a bill in Parliament. Home Minister Salahuddin Ahmed disclosed this while talking to reporters after the committee’s first meeting at the Cabinet Room of the Jatiya Sangsad Bhaban. He said the committee unanimously supported the ordinance, which grants indemnity to those involved in the uprising, describing them as ‘brave fighters’ whose legal protection is both a moral and state responsibility. Following the meeting, Law Minister Asaduzzaman said the committee has also started reviewing 133 ordinances promulgated during the tenure of the interim government. “We are carefully examining each ordinance in detail. A comprehensive report will be finalised and submitted by April 2,” he said. He added that the primary objective of the review is to ensure a balance between constitutional provisions and public expectations. “Our goal is to move forward by ensuring harmony between the Constitution and the aspirations of people. However, the supremacy of the Constitution will be upheld in all cases,” he added. The Law Minister also clarified that the committee’s recommendations will not automatically become law. Instead, the panel will submit its observations and proposals to Parliament which will take the final decision on whether those recommendations should be transformed into law, he said. Meanwhile, according to a press release from Parliament Secretariat, the first meeting of a special committee formed by the Parliament was held at the Cabinet Room of the Jatiya Sangsad Bhaban, chaired by Committee chairman Zainul Abedin, a Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) Vice Chairman and Member of Parliament for Barishal-3. Committee members present included Home Minister Salauddin Ahmed, Chief Whip Md Nurul Islam,  Law Minister Md Asaduzzaman, Dr Muhammad Osman Faruk, A M Mahbub Uddin, State Minister for Public Administration Md Abdul Bari, Muhammad Nowshad Zamir, State Minister for Social Welfare Farzana Sharmeen, Md Mujibur Rahman, Md Rafiqul Islam Khan, and G M Nazrul Islam. At the outset, the committee observed a one-minute silence and offered prayers seeking eternal peace for those killed during the July 2024 mass uprising. The meeting held detailed discussions on a wide range of ordinances issued by the interim government. These included amendments related to the Anti-Corruption Commission, Special Security Force, Bangladesh Investment Development Authority, government service laws, counter-terrorism measures, prevention of enforced disappearance, police reforms, human trafficking and migrant smuggling prevention, land use regulation and agricultural land protection, environmental conservation, civil aviation, and various development authorities, among others. Key ordinances such as the “July Uprising (Protection and Accountability) Ordinance, 2026”, “Prevention of Enforced Disappearance Ordinance, 2025" and its 2026 amendment, and “Police Commission Ordinance, 2025” were also reviewed during the session. The committee decided to continue examining the remaining ordinances at subsequent meetings. It further resolved to assess the necessity and validity of all ordinances and submit a comprehensive report to Parliament at the earliest opportunity. After the meeting, committee chairman Zainul Abedin told reporters that a couple of members "have some opinions" on some of the issues in these ordinances.  "We have asked them to discuss them in the next meeting. If they cannot complete it in the next meeting, I have asked them to give it in writing," he disclosed.  The committee chairman said that their deliberations will resume tomorrow at 2 pm. If all the checks and selections are not completed, there will be more meetings. They hope to be able to submit a report by April 2.  

Bangladeshi Human rights activist and lawyer ZI Khan Panna has described 1975 as a period when the nation witnessed the key attacks on human rights, noting that the subsequent indemnity ordinance was the worst thing to see.   “The key attack (on human rights) was in 1975. And nothing can be as worst as the indemnity ordinance,” he said while speaking at a discussion on human rights issues on Saturday (October 15, 2022).  Editors Guild, Bangladesh, a platform of editors, organised the discussion held at the Dhaka Gallery in Banani in the capital. Read PM: During BNP’s regime, human rights were violated at every step Just 41 days into the assassination of Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, an indemnity ordinance was promulgated by Khandaker Moshtaque Ahmed, who grabbed state power immediately after the brutal killing by putting martial law in place. The ordinance was issued on September 26, 1975 with an aim to block any legal or other proceedings against the killers and those who were involved in proclaiming martial law on the morning of August 15, 1975. Panna also described the post-1975 development and how people were brutally tortured. He claimed existence of “Aynaghar” in the post 1975 period and he was one of the victims of that. “There’re many victims,” he said, mentioning few names and brutal nature of tortures on them. Read UN experts seek more help for human rights defenders in push for accountability in Myanmar Panna also highlighted the present situation, saying there are some failures. “I would say avoiding tendency, not limitations.” He said the CHT peace treaty is the one of the best agreements without involvement of any third party or country. The rights activist credited Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina for this. Talking about the glorious War of Liberation, he said Bangladesh is a unique nation in world history. Read: Bangabandhu Memorial Museum: Witness to History and Tragedy The rights activist said nobody can show a country in the world except Bangladesh whose 30 lakh people sacrificed their lives in a period of 9 months. “You can’t show in world history. Bangladesh is a unique country.” He said it was not a conventional war, but it was a people's war. State Minister for Foreign Affairs Md Shahriar Alam, Professor Dr Mizanur Rahman, human rights activist Khushi Kabir, Bhorer Kagoj Editor Shyamal Dutta, among others, spoke at the discussion on human rights issues moderated by Editors’ Guild President and Editor-in-Chief of Ekattor Television Mozammel Babu. Read ASK September report paints grim picture of human rights in Bangladesh

Lamenting the disgraceful inclusion of the indemnity of Bangabandhu's killers in the fifth amendment to the constitution, Prime Minister's ICT Affairs Advisor Sajeeb Wazed Joy has termed it as the beginning of the culture of impunity. "Today is notorious July 9. On this day in 1979, this indemnity act against humanity was passed in the parliament, initiating the culture of impunity in the country," wrote Joy from his verified Facebook account. Following the darkest chapter in independent Bangladesh, the assassination of the Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and his family on August 15, 1975, the indemnity ordinance was introduced on September 26 in the same year, paving the path for Khondaker Mostaq Ahmad to take over with the help of Bangabandhu's killers, he added. Also read: Cheerful PM’s photo with Joy, Putul from Padma Bridge takes netizens by storm According to the indemnity ordinance, no one involved in Bangabandhu's murder or its conspiracy could be tried in lower court, Supreme court, or court martial.  Thus Bangladesh’s first military dictator Ziaur Rahman turned the ordinance into an act, denying people's basic rights to get justice, he further said. The killers were protected and rewarded through the indemnity ordinance. Even some of them were endowed with embassy jobs while some became members of the parliament in 1988, he wrote in the post accompanied by a video. Also read: Future of Bangladesh hinges much on Padma Bridge: Joy The stigma was finally eradicated by the Sheikh Hasina-led Awami League government, which scapped the act on November 12, 1996, he concluded.