Demanding the Biman chairman’s removal, Jatiya Party (JaPa) lawmakers yesterday walked out of parliament, while an independent MP followed suit.
JaSaD lawmaker Moinuddin Khan Badal raised the issue in a point of order; some senior lawmakers participated in the discussion accusing Jamal Uddin Ahmed (Biman’s chairman) of being involved in gold smuggling.
Coming down heavily on retired Air Marshal Jamal Uddin Ahmed for his alleged involvement in corruption and anomalies, JaPa MP Feroz Rashid demanded his removal from the post, saying: “We will be bound to stage a walkout, if the minister does not remove him. We’ll stay in the House, if the minister gives us this assurance.”
The JaPa walked, with Independent lawmaker Tahzeeb Alam Chowdhury following, out as the chair of the session Deputy Speaker Fazle Rabbi Miah refused the demand saying the issue could not be solved only by raising a point of order; no decision could be made. The deputy speaker asked Feroz Rashid to issue a notice following the rules of procedure.
Although Civil Aviation and Tourism Minister Rashed Khan Menon was present, and wanted to reply to the queries raised, he was not given the floor. Leader of the House Sheikh Hasina and Opposition leader Raushan Ershad were not present.
Before the walkout, Feroz had demanded an hour’s time for discussion on the current gold smuggling issue, and wanted to know the minister’s position on Biman’s chairman.
“The report of the 9th parliament’s standing committee termed the Biman chairman as a thief. But we’ve not received any copy of the report till date. We have not seen any action taken against anyone,” he said.
Earlier, Badal, venting his anger at the massive corruption and anomalies within Biman Bangladesh, said the 9th parliament’s relevant standing committee, following a six-month investigation into the malpractices at Biman, had prepared a report and placed in the House, but such report was not discussed in parliament.
“The report had at that time suggested the removal of Biman Chairman terming him as ‘good for nothing’, along with its board of directors. Why does government still face criticism on their behalf?” he asked.
Without mentioning names, Badal further asked if Jamal had became a super citizen of the country.
Independent lawmaker Hazi Selim demanded an explanation from the Civil Aviation and Tourism Minister on rule 300 of the rules of procedure.
Feroz had spoken strongly about the gold smuggling issue last Thursday as well. Involvement of Biman high-ups with gold-smuggling is a widely discussed issue in parliament in recent times.
Earlier on March 23 this year, JaPa MPs staged the maiden walkout of the 10th Parliament in protest of power tariff hike.