Parliament launches probe into suspected sabotage of sound system

A three-member committee has been formed by the Parliament Committee to investigate a sound system outage that disrupted the opening day of the 13th National Parliament. 

The panel has been directed to determine if the incident was an act of sabotage and is required to submit its report by April 3.

Chief Whip Nurul Islam, the President of the Parliament Committee, announced the decision following a meeting on Saturday. 

The investigation was prompted after the parliamentary session had to be temporarily suspended on March 12 due to the technical failure. 

Frustrations regarding the parliament's audio equipment continued in subsequent meetings, with Jamaat MP Shahjahan Chowdhury also voicing his anger over the quality of the headphones and sound system.

Addressing the media, Chief Whip Nurul Islam stated that the committee discussed the issue extensively and decided to form an investigative team. 

"We believe that there has really been sabotage here," he said. To assist in diagnosing the technical difficulties, experts from the Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET) have been invited. The investigation committee will focus on two primary objectives: verifying whether sabotage occurred and identifying the root cause of the sound system issues to determine a solution.

Regarding the specific complaints about the equipment, the Chief Whip acknowledged the dissatisfaction among members. "Everyone placed complaints about the headphones. With such a huge noise, you can't hear the parliament with a headphone on your head. Your head gets hot and your ears get hot. This will change," he assured reporters.

In addition to the technical issues, the meeting also covered the housing and medical facilities for members of parliament. 

The Chief Whip noted that while ministers, state ministers, chief whips, whips, and the speaker are allotted separate residences, efforts are being made to arrange housing for all other members. 

The committee aims to allocate the necessary purchases by the 10th of the month and has scheduled its next meeting for March 30.

When questioned about why these problems were not resolved during the ample time available for reforms after August 5, the Chief Whip pointed to the prevailing political uncertainty of that period. 

He explained that the atmosphere at the time suggested that elections might not take place at all. "Even on the day of the election, I was asked whether the elections will finally survive?" he recounted. "I said, let's see, God is the master of the unseen. We cannot say, let's try; so that it survives."