Parliamentary body: It’s Cantonment, not Senanibash

The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Ministry of Defence has opted to use the term ‘Cantonment’ in place of “Senanibash” in the Cantonments Act given the term ‘Senanibash’ may only refer to the army, not navy and air force. The decision was taken at a meeting of the committee held at the Jatiya Sangsad building on Tuesday. In November last year, Law, Justice, and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Anisul Huq tabled a bill, the Senanibash Act, in Parliament on defence affairs, which was later sent to the committee for vetting. Tuesday’s meeting was convened to discuss a report on the bills submitted by a sub-committee. Members of the committee, including Anisul, Col Raruk Khan(retd), Md Mahbubur Rahman, Dipu Moni, Mahmud Us Samad Chowdhury, and Hosne Ara Begum, were  present at the meeting presided over by its chief, Maj Gen Mohammad Shubid Ali Bhuiyan(retd). “We decided not to change the Act’s title and opted to use the previous one [Cantonments Act] because the word ‘Senanibash’ has connotations of army, while the term ‘Cantonment’ applies to all the three forces,” said Samad.