‘Indecent gestures’ during Rumin Farhana’s speech in Parliament

The Leader of the Opposition, Dr. Shafiqur Rahman, has strongly condemned and protested the ‘indecent gestures’ made by some members of the government party (Treasury Bench) during the speech of Member of Parliament Rumin Farhana in the National Parliament. Emphasizing on maintaining a decent environment in Parliament, he urged the members of Parliament to follow etiquette.
The Leader of the Opposition made these comments standing at a point of order in the session of the National Parliament today (April 19) afternoon, under the chairmanship of Deputy Speaker Barrister Kaiser Kamal. Dr. Shafiqur Rahman said, the indecent gestures made by some members of the Treasury Bench during the speech of Member of Parliament from Brahmanbaria-2 constituency Rumin Farhana has shaken my conscience.
Such behavior is in no way expected from members of Parliament who have been elected more than once. He further said, “At the beginning of the parliament, we expressed the hope of building a positive and decent political culture. But despite repeated calls, I am very saddened and strongly condemn this kind of indecent behavior.” Alleging discrimination in speaking, the opposition leader said, “The decision of the Speaker is final when it comes to speaking in parliament.” However, the discrimination seen in getting opportunities is worrying. He urged the Speaker to complete this process in phases or consistently. In view of the opposition leader’s statement, Deputy Speaker Kaiser Kamal urged all members of parliament to participate in the discussion by maintaining etiquette as per the rules of procedure. At that time, Chief Whip of the parliament Nurul Islam demanded that new members be ensured the opportunity to speak. He said, there are about 220 new members in the current parliament. They want to talk about the problems of their respective areas and national issues. But it seems that many members are not able to speak even once despite getting repeated opportunities. The Chief Whip drew the attention of the Speaker to the fact that those who gave notice earlier should follow a consistent list or order of their speeches. This would encourage new members and make the proceedings of Parliament more lively.