‘Will the world come to an end in the next half hour?’ Speaker asks as Nahid insists on speaking

Detailed summary

Opposition chief whip refuses to wait until the question-and-answer session ends, prompting a brief exchange with the Speaker ...

Speaker Hafiz Uddin Ahmad and Opposition Chief Whip Nahid Islam exchanged words briefly at the Jatiya Sangsad today after the latter insisted on raising a point of order at the start of the day's proceedings.

Nahid, also the convener of NCP, rose on a point of order to raise the issue of alleged arson and petrol bomb attack on the home of NCP MP Nusrat Tabassum last night.

The Speaker intervened, saying, “This is certainly important and we will discuss it. Let the question-and-answer session conclude first, then you may speak.”

Nahid disagreed, saying “No, honourable Speaker. What am I supposed to do with the question-and-answer session?”

In response, the Speaker asked, “Will the world come to an end in the next half hour? What is the problem with waiting half an hour? We are following a procedure. Besides, the home minister, who would be expected to respond, may not even be present.”

“We already know what the home minister would say, honourable Speaker. We only want to place our concerns on record. We do not expect any answer [from treasury] anyway,” he said.

The Speaker then remarked, “You do not expect an answer? Very well, go ahead.”

“At least allow us to speak. Otherwise, we will not stay,” Nahid said.

Opening of the article, excerpted from The Daily Star. To read the rest, open the article on the publisher's site.