Questioning against the demand to ban Jamaat-e-Islami, the party’s member of parliament ATM Azharul Islam said, ‘I thought we were banned. Who will fill this gap? Will you run the country alone? Will you establish one-party rule?’
This leader of Jamaat said this while participating in the general discussion on the proposed budget in the National Parliament on Sunday.
Addressing the government party, ATM Azharul Islam said, ‘Do you want to rehabilitate the Awami League? I think Awami League wants to be rehabilitated. Because, for four months you did not find a person who will be the president.’
ATM Azharul also said, ‘You are choosing the people of the fascist government, trying to keep him. BNP is such a big party, why do you like him so much? In what direction did you get the hint that he should keep it? If you want to eradicate fascism, you have to erase all traces.’
At the beginning of the speech, ATM Azhar remembered the former leaders of Jamaat-e-Islami, Matiur Rahman Nizami, Ali Ahsan Mohammad Mujahid, Muhammad Kamaruzzaman, Abdul Quader Molla and Mir Kasem Ali, who were convicted for crimes against humanity. He alleged that they were killed by ‘judicial killing’ by falsely framing a false case. Demanding that the people involved in this murder be brought under the law, he said, only then will the rule of law be established in the country.
This member of parliament of Jamaat commented that the proposed budget for the financial year 2026-27 is ‘overly ambitious, dependent on debt and affected by various limitations’. He said that the size of the proposed budget is 9 lakh 38 thousand crores. Against this, the total income has been estimated at 6 lakh 95 thousand crores. As a result, the total deficit is Tk 2 lakh 42 thousand crores. Implementation of this huge budget will be the biggest challenge for the government.
ATM Azharul Islam also said that uncertainty in revenue collection, over-reliance on credit and contraction of development expenditure can make budget implementation difficult. Though aiming to stabilize the economy, the government has to face the reality of inflation, foreign exchange pressure and large fiscal deficit.
Expressing concern about the growing pressure of operating expenses in the budget, this Jamaat member of parliament said that the amount of operating expenses in the budget has been estimated at 6 lakh 5 thousand 740 crores, which is a large part of the total budget. Of this, 1 lakh 27 thousand 500 crores will be spent only on interest payment. This record interest payment liability will put serious strain on the government’s fiscal capacity. In order to get out of this situation, it is necessary to seriously consider the introduction of interest-free financial instruments.
Terming interest as a ‘big sin’, ATM Azhar said, ‘People of Bangladesh are burdened with this interest. We cannot allow usury in a Muslim majority country.’ Instead of interest-based loans, he suggested an alternative to raising money from the public through the issue of ‘Retail Sukuk’ (Islamic Bonds) in accordance with Islamic Shariah.
Azharul Islam said, ‘If we want to free Bangladesh from interest, we will not be able to do it in one or two years, but if we start efforts, we can introduce interest-free sukuk by taking people’s money and benefiting the people. I think, Bangladesh will gradually move towards becoming interest free. It will be beneficial for all.’
