Condolences Proposed for 31 Members in First Session of 13th National Parliament

The first session of the 13th National Parliament of Bangladesh, held on March 12, began with Major (Retd.) Hafiz Uddin Ahmed took the oath of office as Speaker, and Barrister Kaiser Kamal was elected as the Deputy Speaker. The President of Bangladesh, Mohammad Shahabuddin, administered the oaths.

Following the opening, Speaker Hafiz Uddin Ahmed offered condolences for several prominent figures, including former Prime Minister Begum Khaleda Zia, former Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Pope Francis, Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, former President Badruddoza Chowdhury, Matiya Chowdhury, and 31 Members of Parliament who had passed away. A one-minute silence was observed to honor their memories, after which the motion was unanimously passed by the Parliament.

However, opposition Deputy Leader Syed Abdullah Mohammad Taher raised a point that the condolence motion was one-sided. He demanded the inclusion of Jamaat leaders such as Matiur Rahman Nizami, Delwar Hossain Sayeedi, Muhammad Kamaruzzaman, Mir Kasem Ali, Kader Molla, Sharif Osman Hadi, among others, along with the names of Shahriar Fahad, Felani Khatun, and others, in the condolence motion. In response, Speaker Hafiz Uddin Ahmed assured that these proposed names would be included in the motion.

Following this, discussions on the July freedom fighters were held by Members of Parliament Goyeshwar Chandra Roy, Nahid Islam, Jonaid Saki, and Shahid Uddin Chowdhury Ani.