Dhaka, Mar 16 (bdnews24.com) – BNP MPs walked out of parliament Monday over ruling Awami League leader Tofail Ahmed's comments on the opposition party's founder Ziaur Rahman.
BNP parliamentarians, led by MK Anwar, stormed out of the House at 7:45pm.
Tofail had said if Zia were alive, he would have been tried on charges of reinstating the anti-liberation forces.
"Zia was the one who did the most damage to the nation by dividing the country. He polluted the politics by saying 'I will make politics difficult for the politicians'."
His comments were greeted with howls of protests from BNP MPs.
Deputy leader of parliament Syeda Sajeda Chowdhury and AL leader Suranjit SenGupta stood up then, but speaker Abdul Hamid gave floor to MK Anwar.
"At that time (Mar 26, 1971) many fled the country in fear of Pakistani army and the liberation war would have delayed if Zia had not declared independence."
"Those who killed democracy should be tried," he said.
The BNP MPs soon walked out of parliament in protest and demanded Tofail's comments be expunged.
An unscheduled debate on who declared independence and alleged corruption during former speaker Jamiruddin Sircar's tenure started on a point of order in the evening.
AL MP Mosharraf Hossain said the four-party government had not only distorted the mural at the Chittagong Airport but also the history of liberation war.
"Zia himself never said in his lifetime that he declared independence on Mar 26, 1971. I'll quit politics if anyone can prove it."
Awami League MPs made a noisy protest when BNP MP Shahiduddin Chowdhury Annie said Zia introduced multi-party democracy in the country.
Several other treasury bench MPs also spoke.
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