Referring to a halt on music performances and boat races in Brahmanbaria, Cumilla-4 MP Hasnat Abdullah asked the home minister whether he had succeeded in restoring law and order over the past six months, or had failed.
Hasnat Abdullah raised the supplementary question Thursday afternoon, August 27, on the first working day of the National Parliament’s third session. Responding, Home Minister Salahuddin Ahmed said: “I couldn’t tell whether that was a question or a speech at Paltan.”
In his supplementary question, Hasnat Abdullah said: “Music performances have been stopped in Brahmanbaria. Boat races have also been stopped. Yet the home minister has described Brahmanbaria as a cultural district.”
He continued: “In that district, it’s as if music and cinema have been shut down. In these six months, has the honorable home minister been able to restore the law-and-order situation? And has he played an adequate role in establishing the rule of law? Or has he failed?” In response, the home minister said: “Whether the home minister has succeeded in improving the law-and-order situation in six months is one question. Then, why there is no cinema hall in Brahmanbaria district is another question.”
The home minister also questioned the casualty and injury figures Hasnat had cited in his remarks. He said: “I don’t know on what basis, or what statistics, the data on how many killings and injuries occurred was given — I don’t know that statistic.”
Salahuddin Ahmed said whether the law-and-order situation has improved is visible for anyone to see. He claimed that since the current government took office, perpetrators in crimes committed across the country have been arrested and brought under the law within 24 to 48 hours.
He said: “If members of parliament mention any specific incident, they can make a statement on it under Rule 300.”
The home minister also said the government has cooperated in speeding up the trial of various publicized and lesser-known crimes based on public demand, though he noted that conducting trials is the judiciary’s responsibility.
He claimed police and law enforcement agencies had been able to arrest and bring to justice the accused in various incidents, from the Ramisa case to four recent killings in Rangpur, in the shortest possible time.
He said: “If there is any failure here, it needs to be specified. Saying the law enforcement agencies have failed, or that this government has failed to improve the law-and-order situation — these things happen in speeches. This is parliament. Statements made in parliament need to be fact-based.”
The home minister added that if a formal notice is given on whether law enforcement agencies or the Home Ministry failed in any specific incident, it can be debated in parliament.
বাংলায় মূল প্রতিবেদন পড়ুন · Read the original Bengali report