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“No one from a martyrs’ family or a freedom fighter can join Jamaat. If someone does so, it amounts to a ‘double crime’,” he said.

At this point, Jamaat MPs began shouting in protest.

The Speaker repeatedly urged the opposition MPs to maintain order, asking Fazlur to continue his speech: “Honourable Members, please preserve discipline in the House.”

But Jamaat MPs ignored his call and kept shouting. Amid the uproar, Fazlur said: “Had they found our leader Ziaur Rahman before December 16, they would have killed him.”

At one point, the Speaker rose from his seat and urged the opposition members to restore order.

The Speaker reminded the MPs: “This is Bangladesh’s national parliament. Every member here is elected and has the right to speak. If you disagree, you may counter with arguments. But disturbing a member while speaking is unacceptable.”

He urged the MPs to respect parliamentary procedure, warning: “The way you are behaving, even children would be ashamed. Such venerable individuals, who have become grandfathers, their grandchildren may be sitting in the gallery watching. What will they think about this?”

“When the Speaker rises, it is the duty of all members to sit down. If you do not respect the Chair, people will lose respect for the parliament itself.”

He assured the opposition that after Fazlur’s speech, they would be given time to respond, even extended time if necessary, and that any unparliamentary remarks would be examined and expunged.

Concluding, the Speaker asked Fazlur to finish within three minutes, after which the opposition leader would be heard.

Fazlur was then allowed to complete his address, in which he said that December 14, 1971 is observed as Martyred Intellectuals Day.

The hundreds of intellectuals who were killed are said to have been murdered by Al-Badr.

“And you all know whose force Al-Badr was. Unfortunately, on the first day of this parliament, I could not hear much in the parliament [due to sound malfunction]. In this House, a condolence motion was also brought regarding them. Even if I were alone, I would have protested, but since my party did it, I remained silent. The matter is very clear: whether today or tomorrow, or the day after, the main message will go down in history.”

Fazlur said he respects the participants of the July uprising. To compare it with the Liberation War and freedom fighters is “wrong”.

“But for any reason, August [mass uprising] is not a revolution. August was a mass uprising… Comparing the Liberation War is like comparing the Pacific Ocean with a pond, or the Himalayas with a hillock.”

The Liberation War is unparalleled, he said.

“In the jungles of this country, not only cuckoos sing -- there are royal places where the Royal Bengal Tiger lives. Against freedom fighters, Razakars will never win in this country,” he said.

Both he and the Speaker were freedom fighters, he said.

“After December 16, hundreds of Razakars surrendered to me. I did not kill anyone -- I sent them all to jail for trial. My point is: after August 5, 2024, so many police stations were looted, so many policemen were killed. They were not fighting then; they were innocent. So many weapons -- where did they go?”

The incidents that occurred after August 5 should not be immune under any law.

“If policemen were killed, police stations looted, weapons taken after August 5, those should be investigated and tried. And before August 5, whatever the police did, they were a state force. If they committed injustice, let there be a trial,” he added.

Then, Opposition Leader Shafiqur Rahman said that Fazlur spoke about his contribution to the Liberation War.

“But in so doing, he hammered down on another’s contribution. No one has the right to do that. He personally hurt me. He said that I claim to be from a martyred freedom fighter’s family, and he challenged that.”

Secondly, he said no freedom fighter or martyred freedom fighter’s family member can be in Jamaat-e-Islami.

“Then he must be asked -- why? I strongly condemn this. My identity has been questioned. That is a serious offence. He also spoke about my ideological choices. That is an added offence,” Shafiqur said.

Calling for Fazlur’s unparliamentary remarks to be expunged, he said: “As is the brain, so is the conclusion. I did not expect this kind of behaviour from such a senior person, a politician.”

Later, when Fazlur wanted to speak again, the Speaker did not give him the floor and said: “Now it is not necessary to speak further. We do not want the Parliament to be heated. Please sit down.”

If there is anything unparliamentary in Fazlur Rahman’s speech, it will be expunged, he said.

“If there is anything unparliamentary in the opposition leader’s speech, that too will be expunged.”