‘Chudurbudur’ won't be deleted: Speaker

'Chudurbudur’, the Bengali word that had rocked Parliament early this month, will not be deleted from the records, Speaker Shirin Sharmin Chaudhury has said.

On Jun 9, BNP lawmaker Rahana Akter Ranu had warned the government using her local language that "there was no scope for chudurbudur" – dillydally – with opposition's caretaker demand.

"The word is from a colloquial language," Speaker Chaudhury told bdnews24.com on Monday at her office.

"When the word was uttered in Parliament, I did not say it would be expunged. It is not obscene," she added.

Ruling coalition MPs had objected to Ranu's choice of word. Whip ASM Firoz termed her speech 'indecent' and demanded it be expunged.

Speaker Chaudhury had said the remarks would be examined and a decision to whether exclude it or not would be taken as per Section 307.

Days after "Chudurbudur" stirred Parliament, India's largest circulating Bengali language daily Ananda Bazar Patrika turned to linguists to explore whether the word was indeed obscene, abusive and unparliamentary.

A report by the daily citing the Bangla Academy Dictionary edited by linguist Dr Muhammad Shahidullah, and quoting Kolkata’s top linguist Pabitra Sarkar, a former Vice-Chancellor of Rabindra Bharati University who works closely with the Bangla Academy, said 'chudurbudur' was a rural word and not obscene.

The Speaker, who hails from Noakhali where the word is widely used, has also said it is not an obscene word.

"I have issued a ruling in Parliament. You cannot give ruling daily. The members of parliament also have responsibilities. I have warned them," she said on unparliamentary speeches in the House.

Chaudhury said mikes are being turned off if necessary. "Even yesterday (Sunday) I had turned off mikes of two ruling and opposition MPs."

On Monday, ruling party MP Zunaid Ahmed Palak demanded a fine of Tk 30,000 on each 'indecent' word uttered inside the Parliament by any of its members.

He urged the Speaker to expel a lawmaker from the proceedings for at least one day for unparliamentary speeches.

Opposition MP Andaleeve Rahman Partha demanded forming a committee to stop the use of offensive remarks.

The Speaker said the two MPs had given their personal opinions. She said the Rules of Procedures mention rules to be observed for the lawmakers while speaking in the House.

"You have to understand why it (the rules to be followed during speeches) has been mentioned so many times. Every MP has responsibilities. Not all of the lawmakers use unparliamentary language. Those who did are being dealt with," she said.

Chaudhury warned of implementing Section 273 as the last resort.

Section 273 deals with 'irrelevance or repetition'.

It says, "The Speaker, after having called the attention of the House to the conduct of a member who persists in irrelevance or in tedious repetition either of his own arguments or of the arguments used by other members in debate, may direct him to discontinue his speech, and the member shall thereupon resume his seat."

She said she would resort to tough measures against both the ruling and opposition, if necessary.

"Actions will be taken [against anyone] as per regulations no matter who it is," she said.

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