Government and opposition MPs clashed in a war of words in the National Parliament during the general discussion on the proposed 2026-27 budget.
Jamaat-e-Islami MP Shahjahan Chowdhury sharply criticised a remark by Home Minister Salahuddin Ahmed, mocking him as a “modern-day mufti.”
Taking part in the budget discussion on Saturday (27 June), Chattogram-15 MP Shahjahan Chowdhury said it was now being said in Chattogram that one no longer needed to go to a madrasa for a fatwa — fatwas were now given in parliament.
Naming the home minister, he said that those issuing fatwas that Jamaat-e-Islami was not an Islamic party would need to know 100 years of history to understand Jamaat.
Shahjahan Chowdhury said: “Our home minister is another distinguished son of Chattogram. Today a saying has emerged in our Chattogram — that one no longer needs to go to a madrasa for a fatwa. I asked, why? They said, because the fatwa is given in your parliament. To know who Jamaat-e-Islami is, one must know a hundred years of history. There is no longer any need to issue a fatwa on whether Jamaat-e-Islami is an Islamic party or something else.”
Describing the home minister as someone who did not know “alif, ba, ta” (the basics), he said sarcastically that they would no longer go to Hathazari, Patiya or Lalbagh for a fatwa, but would take it from whoever in this great parliament was giving fatwas.
Immediately after Shahjahan Chowdhury’s speech, BNP MP Joynal Abdin Faruk took part in the budget discussion. Sharply criticising the Jamaat leader’s remarks and urging that the parliament not be inflamed, he said people should judge their own words.
He called for looking at Jamaat’s role in 1971 and at the Mirpur Martyred Intellectuals’ Graveyard. Recalling who had carried out killings to leave Bangladesh bereft of intellectuals just a day before independence, he said the martyrs of the July revolution would certainly be remembered, but 1971 must never be forgotten. He also demanded an increase in freedom fighters’ allowances.
বাংলায় মূল প্রতিবেদন পড়ুন · Read the original Bengali report