A remark deeming debates around the July Charter “unnecessary” triggered extreme tension and uproar in the National Parliament on Monday during a discussion on the motion of thanks on the President’s speech, as government and opposition members clashed over the credit for the July uprising.
The heated situation arose when Manjurul Karim Roni, MP for Gazipur-2 constituency, strongly criticised the ongoing debate over the July Charter, drawing fierce protest from opposition benches.
“An unnecessary debate over a ‘July Charter’ has been started from the very first day of this parliament,” Roni said.
Addressing opposition leaders, he added, “If you want to claim that the July movement was a sole achievement, then our hearts are broken. We were there too. We have also lost over 400 comrades.”
He further claimed that while Awami League, Jatiya Party and Jamaat have blood on their hands, and that BNP is the only party whose hands are clean. Questioning the political careers of opposition members, he said, “In front of our 17 years of street struggle, shouts of three or four years are of no avail.”
Immediately after Roni’s remarks, opposition MPs stood up and began protesting in unison.
Md Nurul Islam, MP for Chapainawabganj-3 constituency, shouted on the floor, “Calling the discussion of the July Charter ‘unnecessary’ can never be acceptable. The government was formed in continuation of that July mass uprising.”
“Belittling the July Charter means insulting the student-public mass uprising and the blood of martyrs,” he added.
Widespread uproar and altercation broke out between the two sides, turning the parliamentary chamber heated.
In the tense situation, Speaker Hafiz Uddin Ahmed tried to calm the members.
“The beauty of democracy is that one can express one’s views here due to differences of opinion and freedom of speech. Unnecessarily disturbing someone is not right,” he said.
“If you do not like someone’s speech, you have the opportunity to later express your protest or opinion in a decent manner during your own time,” the Speaker added.
After repeated interventions by the speaker, the situation somewhat calmed down.
