Health and Family Welfare Minister Sardar Md. Sakhawat Hossain has directed sharp remarks at Jamaat-e-Islami, saying that when the party goes too far, he feels like calling its members “Razakars, Al-Shams and Al-Badr”.

“We have been behaving properly and maintaining courtesy in the greater interest of the country. I would urge them not to go too far. When they cross the line, I feel like saying: You are Razakars, you are Al-Shams, you are Al-Badr,” he said.

The health minister made the remarks while taking part in the discussion on the motion of thanks on the President’s address on the 24th day of the first session of the 13th National Parliament on the afternoon of April 29.

Sakhawat Hossain said, “A volcanic eruption does not happen in a single day. The lava that emerges from a volcanic eruption begins forming long before it erupts. The process that led to the July Revolution began 13–14 years earlier. Under the leadership of Tarique Rahman, the Bangladesh Nationalist Party, Jubo Dal, Chhatra Dal and all their affiliated organisations gradually built up that fire. When that fire erupted through the July Revolution, fascism had to leave.”

“I am a freedom fighter. I witnessed 1971 and fought at the border in the Belonia sector. Those who now want to lecture us on democracy and link 1971 with 2024, or try to belittle 1971, I have one thing to say to them: we have been behaving properly and maintaining courtesy in the greater interest of the country,” the minister said.

He added, “Our leader Tarique Rahman has called for unity. He has formed a committee from this all-party parliament to address the electricity problem. I would urge them not to go too far.

“I went to Pakistan in 2004, accompanied by a Jamaat-e-Islami MP, to attend a SAFMA conference. Knowing that I was a freedom fighter, a Pakistani MP treated me with contempt. I cannot forget that situation because I was a freedom fighter. Even so, I remain silent and refrain from saying anything in the greater interest of the country's economy. But when they go too far, I feel like saying: You are Razakars, you are Al-Shams, you are Al-Badr.”

The health minister said, “We freedom fighters liberated this country. We want unity to build the country that gained independence, but not at the cost of our ideals. Compromise in the interest of national development does not mean compromising our principles.

“Our Leader of the Opposition is not here now. Yesterday, he said something about why he was being criticised so much. Honourable Speaker, I would like to criticise him a little.”