‘Everyone agrees’ on July indemnity ordinance, says Home Minister Salahuddin

Home Minister Salahuddin Ahmed says there is consensus on the ordinance concerning indemnity for July activists after the first meeting of the special parliamentary committee set up to review 133 ordinances issued during the interim government's tenure.

He made the remarks on Tuesday while speaking to reporters after the committee’s meeting in the parliament's cabinet room.

Salahuddin said it would not be possible to settle all 133 ordinances in a single sitting and that the committee would need to meet several more times.

However, agreement had already been reached on “many issues”, according to him.

In response to another question, he said: “Everyone agrees on the issue of July indemnity as well.”

Earlier, before entering the meeting, the home minister told reporters outside parliament that the special committee had been formed under the Rules of Procedure because the ministry-related standing committees had not yet been constituted.

He said the committee would discuss which ordinances could be accepted as they were, which could be passed with amendments, and which would need further changes.

According to Salahuddin, some of the 133 ordinances were being seen as inconsistent with the Constitution, while others reflected public aspirations that emerged after the July Mass Uprising.

“We will uphold the aspirations of the July Uprising,” he said.

“For example, there are ordinances that recognise July fighters and include indemnity provisions for those who led or took part in the uprising. We will accept those.”

He also said he believed that revoking some naming decisions taken during the previous government would be “easily acceptable”.

The special committee’s first meeting began at 11am on Tuesday. The panel discussed the scrutiny of the 133 ordinances placed before parliament on Mar 12 and the submission of a report on them.

After the meeting, Law Minister Md Asaduzzaman told reporters that the review process had now begun.

“We will prepare the report by the 2nd of April. We want to move forward by reconciling both the Constitution and public aspirations. The Constitution must, of course, prevail over everything else,” he said.

The law minister said not all decisions could be disclosed immediately.

“When the report is published, it can be said. We are in the middle of the process and moving forward,” he said.