A number of treasury bench members yesterday asked the chair to allow a general discussion in the Jatiya Sangsad on the killing of Muslims in communal riot in the Indian state of Gujarat.

Deputy Speaker Akhtar Hamid Siddiqui, who was then in the chair, apparently supported a proposal that the issue should be settled on Prime Minister Khaleda Zia's return from Australia.

"We hope to take a decision to this effect at the Business Advisory Committee of the Jatiya Sangsad after the prime minister is back home," PM's parliamentary Affairs Adviser Salahuddin Quader Chodhury advised the chair as Jamaat-e-Islami MP Delwar Hossain Saidee proposed a general discussion on the Gujarat riot.

The Jamaat lawmaker also proposed that the House should adopt a resolution condemning the killing of Muslims by the Hindu radicals. "The House should also condemn the opposition leader for her silence over the brutal murder of more than three hundred Muslims in India," he said.

Condemning large-scale human rights violation in Gujarat, Saidee asked the government to lodge a formal protest with the Indian government.

Earlier, several BNP lawmakers also condemned the Gujrat massacre and urged the government to ensure that the Indian riot did not have any repercussion in Bangladesh.

KSJL lawmaker Abdul Quader Siddiqui said the government should be more cautious about any outbreak of communal violence in the country.

Joynal Abedin Faruk thanked the government for timely action in the wake of Gujarat riot. But he criticised the opposition leader for not condemning the killing of Muslims in India.

Treasury bench member Sarwar Jamal Nizam and Jamaat MP Abdus Sobhan also condemned the killing of Muslims in India and asked the Indian authorities to punish the killers.