Dhaka: The Bangladesh Parliament on Saturday declined to consider a proposal by an independent lawmaker, who suggested banning marriages among the working classes to address unemployment in the country.
Lawmaker Rezaul Karim also argued that the children of working couples were often abused by housemaids. ‘Men holding jobs want to marry working women. Likewise, women in service want to marry service holders… If the trend continues, you can’t resolve the unemployment problem in the country,’ Mr. Karim said.
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His proposal elicited laughter in the House as several members ridiculed him. Anisul Huq, the Law Minister of Bangladesh, called the proposal a demonstration of ‘freedom of speech’.
‘I cannot move two steps off the House if I accept the proposal… this is unconstitutional,’ the minister said. Anisul Huq said as a public representative, he could not risk his career by accepting such a proposal. ‘Since we have the freedom of speech, he (Rezaul Karim) can say whatever he likes and he is taking the advantage of that freedom,’ Mr. Huq said.
In 2018, Rezaul Karim, who became a lawmaker for the first time, drew massive criticism for blaming ‘feminist campaigns’ for rapes on the rise. The same year, he also made headlines after posting a picture of himself holding a pistol on his Facebook page.
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