Opposition MPs walked out of the House in protest of what they called weaker legislation aimed at strengthening human rights protection.
At about 8:10pm, MPs from Jamaat and other opposition parties left the House just before National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) Bill 2026 was placed. The bill includes measures to strengthen the NHRC.
According to the days' proceedings, Enforced Disappearance Prevention and Redress Bill, 2026, aiming to prevent enforced disappearances, is set to be placed at house following the passage of NHRC bill.
Before placing the NHRC bill, opposition leader Shafiqur Rahman took the floor and said two bills are set to come before the House.
“We had already made our position clear. When the treasury bench allowed the earlier ordinances [enacted by the last interim government] to lapse, they said they would bring back much stronger and improved versions. We have already expressed our views,” he said.
In the human rights commission bill now presented, there is a clear dual application of the law. The Human Rights Commission has not been given uniform authority.
“If an ordinary citizen commits a human rights violation, the commission can directly investigate. But if a force is involved, then the force is asked to respond.
“If they fail to respond the first time, there is no guidance on what happens. If they do respond but the commission finds it unsatisfactory, then the commission may ask again. If the second response is also unsatisfactory, only then can the commission investigate,” Shafiqur Rahman said.
“This shows a weakness. If the force does not respond at all the first time, there is no direction in the law. And there cannot be dual application of law. State forces are indeed state employees, but they are also citizens of this country. For the same offence, one person can be investigated directly, while in another case the process is blocked – this cannot be acceptable,” he said.
“Thus, the government has failed to meet that demand. Since we had already decided that these laws were being brought back in weaker form after lapsing, we will not be part of passing this law.
“We are clear in our position: we are not participating in the discussion of this law, and we are now walking out,” Shafiqur said, thanking the Speaker.
“Thank you for walking out,” Speaker Hafiz Uddin Ahmad replied.
Law Minister Md Asaduzzaman, while placing the bill, refuted the opposition’s claim.
He said they had said they would bring the Human Rights Commission bill back in a stronger form. “We have indeed strengthened it. But unfortunately, in some areas where we made it stronger, the opposition did not stay to hear.”
He explained that the NHRC bill is far stronger than that of any country in this subcontinent.
In India, Pakistan, and Nepal, the selection committee is led by the prime minister. In the Western world, selection committees are never chaired by the judiciary.
“Here, we have placed the institution – the great parliament – at the centre. We have entrusted the selection committee to your leadership, Honourable Speaker, as a neutral body. We wanted to place our highest trust and confidence in this institution, in this parliament,” the law minister said.
Enforced disappearance and NHRC bills were tabled in parliament on August 27, prompting a walkout by the opposition before their introduction. Opposition members declared they would not participate in what they described as a fragmented process that ignored their core demands for reform.
Subsequently, they also boycotted discussions in the respective parliamentary standing committees. The opposition argued that the government had unilaterally annulled ordinances issued during the interim administration, disregarding the views of victims, stakeholders, and both domestic and international human rights organisations. They noted that while the government had promised stronger and more effective legislation at the time of repeal, the bills presented were weaker and more limited in scope.
Since the cabinet’s approval of the draft laws on enforced disappearances and the Human Rights Commission, human rights activists, political parties, and various groups have consistently voiced concern.
During the interim government led by Prof Muhammad Yunus, three ordinances were promulgated: the National Human Rights Commission (Amendment) Ordinance, 2024; the National Human Rights Commission Ordinance, 2025; and the National Human Rights Commission (Amendment) Ordinance, 2025.
The elected government repealed all three during the first session of the 13th parliament and reinstated the National Human Rights Commission Act, 2009 through fresh legislation.
Similarly, two ordinances on enforced disappearances lapsed after parliament failed to ratify them within the constitutional timeframe. Under the constitution, an ordinance must be placed before parliament at its first sitting and ratified within 30 days of the start of the session.
The government has since moved to reintroduce fresh legislation on both issues.
