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Seen from the Gallery

Reazuddin Ahmed
A quiet beginning of the day In the Parliament was swept away by the rather stormy session in the afternoon Sunday.
The uproar was over the status of the Leader of the Opposition.
The Speaker's refusal to upgrade the position of the Leader of the Opposition next to that of the Leader of the House led to the maiden walkout by the Opposition.
Things went wrong soon after Speaker Abdur Rahman Biswas announced the names of the 15-member Business Advisory Committee putting Sheikh Hastna's name sixth tn Une Tofael Ahmed took the floor and demanded the up grading of the Leader of the Opposition to InstltutionaJlse democracy and establish sovereignty of the Parliament
Agriculture Minister Majedu) Huq stated that in the Warrant of Precedence. the position of the Leader of the Opposition comes after the Prime Minister's. Deputy Prime Minister s. and Ministers'.
The Speaker pointed out that Sheikh Hasina s name as Leader of the Opposition in the 1986 Parliament was much below the present serial.
Tofael Ahmed quipped. There Is much difference between tha Parliament of 1986 and the Parliament of 1991'. This gave the ruling party a good opportunity to criticise those who were in the 1986 House.
Sheikh Hasina listened to the debate which was participated by Abdus Samad Azad. Tofael Ahmed. Suranllt Sengupta. Salahuddln Quader Choudhury. Matiur Rahman Nizami and Shahjahan SiraJ They requested the Speaker to upgrade the position.
Sheikh Hasina then withdrew her name from the Committee protesting the Speaker s decision and later announced the decision to stage a walkout.
Besides Majed ul Huq and Abdus Salam Talukder none from the Treasury Bench took part in the debate.
The Jamaat-e-Islami was in a fix while the other opposition members were walking
Matiur Rahman Nizami, leader of Jamaat Parliamentary Party walked alone to the door followed by none of his party members. He then came back and organised the walkout
The situation was confusing because the Jamaat has backed the BNP to form the government.
It seemed that although the Jamaat decided to back the BNP in forming the government it will support the Awami League In the Parliament
The Jamaat came under a strong attack from Mohiuddtn of BKSAL who requested the Speaker to allot Jamaat's seats in the Treasury Bench as they have extended their support to the BNP government
He cited the example of Rajiv Gandhi who was asked by the Speaker to sit in the Treasury Bench when his Congress party supported the Chandra Shekhar government.
The Jamaat probably tried to save the situation by Joining the ranks of the Opposition in the walkout embarrassing the BNP government.
The walkout was also Joined by the Jattya Party members.
• Better late than never. The House finally felicitated the Speaker and the Deputy Speaker on Sunday, two days after their being elected. Opposition Leader Sheikh Hasina took the lead and felicitated the Speaker and the Deputy Speaker.
She assured the Speaker of her full cooperation and sought his neutrality in conducting the affairs of the House.
Everybody was critical of the lapses on the first day as no one welcomed the Speaker and the Deputy Speaker
It was later revealed by Tofael Ahmed that the BNP set the convention by felicitating the Speaker exactly after two days in 1979.
Rashed Khan Menon defended the convention set by the BNP which was retorted by other opposition members.
Some called him a dalal (collaborator) of the ruling party and asked him to take a seat in the Treasury Bench
• Leader of the House Prime Minister Khaleda Zia came to the House seemingly rehearsed for the felicitation. She sought the permission of the Speaker to read the pre pared text of her speech.
. Akhtaruzzaman Babu of Chittagong rose on a faulty point of order again on Sunday.
He objected to the Prime Minister's reading the written speech without knowing that members can do it with the
Speaker s permission. He was snubbed by his party leaders
• • During the felicitation some of the members mentioned the places of their acquaintance with the Speaker Abdur Rahman Biswas. Mohtuddln Ahmed .aid that he met ine Speaker -t school in his boyhood whlfe So ran jit saw him In the corridor of the Supreme Court. Major (rtd) Hafizuddln said he met htm in the kitchen without mentioning whose kitchen
Elderly parliamentarian Mohiuddtn Ahmed said tn his speech that Speaker (Abdur Rahman) Btawas (meaning trust) should not be distrusted
The Speaker may not have breached the trust but was seemingly biased towards the members from his home dis
He allowed at least five members from Barisal to Hid tate him. They are Mohiuddtn Ahmed. Hashed Khan Menon. Major (rtd) Hafizuddln. Nurul Islam Moni and Tofael Ahmed.
• The Treasury Bench enthusiastic tn taking part in the proceedings. Besides, only a lew of them took part tn any
Prof. Jahanara Begum of BNP accused the Speaker of giving chance to opposition members only. But except Jahanara Begum none showed any interest to felicitate the Speaker.
Prof. Badruddoza Choudhury who was very active in the 1979 Parliament seemed to be a little tired. His sense of humour and witty comments were missing in the House.
Mirza Goiam Hafiz who was Speaker In the Second Parliament does not take much interest probably due to his ill health.
Next to them are Major General (rtd) Majedul Huq. Col. (rtd) Mustafizur Rahman. Col (rtd) OU Ahmed. Salfur Rahman. M. K. Anwar and Keramat AH who showed no enthusiasm In rising on a point of order or taking part in any debate.
The House seemed lifeless at one stage as the debate was one sided. It was an all opposition show In the House on Sunday
The Leader of the House remained tight lipped in the House all the time
The House can only be lively If members of both sides take active part in the debates.
• The BNP and the Awami league again drew their line of battle in the House. Sheikh Hasina concluded her felicitation speech with Joi Bangla. Joi Bangabandhu'. while Khaleda Zia said Bangladesh Zindabad'. at the end of her
The House seems likely to be deprived of duel of words between the Leader of the' House Khaleda Zia and the Leader of the Opposition Sheikh Hasina. as the former speaks very little in the House.
• The Awami League is not always Inimical to Jamaat-e-Islami. atleast not in the parliament. When Mohiuddtn Ahmed requested the Speaker to allocate the Jamaat members seats in the Treasury Bench Awami League members banged the table in Jubilation But when Matiur Rahman Nizami supported Tofael Ahmed's submission to upgrade the statues of Sheikh Hasina he was greeted by Awami League MPs in the same manner.
Treasury Bench members reminded the Awami League of their understanding with the Jamaat in the 1986 Parliament election. Jamaat members remained silent on the contro-
leader of the Jamaat Parliamentary Party seems to be shy and not quite able to rebuff accusations of his opponents.
• Jatiya Party MPs stood tn silence with the other members for a minute to show respect to tlie martyrs who were killed during the Ershad regime.
They seemed to be helpless tn the House and supported their adversaries in condemning their regime tn silence.
Religious Interpretation is no more Jamaat s monopoly
Awami League leaders Mafia Choudhury and Mujlbui Bashar Eke on religion on the day
Ua Choudhury even questioned Jamaat's interpretation of showing respect by standing. The Speaker in his ruling upheld Malia's view that one can pray while standing or sitting
Mir Hazar Khan Bijrani. Railway Minister of Pakistan and Special Envoy of the Pakistan Prime Minister witnessed the proceedings of the House on Sunday morning He was sitting tn the Presidents gallery along with the Pakistan High Commissioner to