A parliamentary body yesterday recommended taking necessary measures to find alternatives to a female upazila nirbahi officer's presence during the guard of honour given to valiant freedom fighters after their deaths.

The standing committee on Liberation War Affairs Ministry came up with the recommendation in a meeting at the Jatiya Sangsad Bhaban with ruling Awami League lawmaker Shajahan Khan in the chair.

The parliamentary watchdog also suggested giving the guard of honour during the daytime.

According to meeting sources, a committee member raised the "issue of guard of honour given to a freedom fighter where the UNO concerned is female".

The member said usually women do not take part in namaz-e-janaza. Many in society raise questions about this. Therefore, in case of giving the guard of honour to a freedom fighter in jurisdictions where the UNO is female, it is necessary to give the charge to a male officer.

In that case, assistant commissioner (land), upazila education officer, upazila agriculture officer or any such officer could be kept as alternative persons for the job.

Shajahan Khan, chief of parliamentary body, said ruling AL MP Rafiqul Islam also raised the matter of not giving the guard of honour at night.

"For this reason, the committee has recommended giving the guard of honor during the day. UNOs usually do the job," he added.

He also said religious issues are also involved with namaz-e-janaza. It is forbidden for women to participate in janaza.

The committee then made the recommendations, meeting sources said.

Shajahan said the committee has asked the ministry to make a decision in this regard in line with the rules and regulations.

Asked, Salma Ali, president of Bangladesh National Woman Lawyers Association, told The Daily Star that the decision of finding alternative persons to give the guard of honour instead by female UNOs should be taken following necessary discussions and in line with the norms and customs.

In the meeting, the parliamentary body also suggested collecting definitions of freedom fighters from different countries of the world. International rules should be followed in case of giving government jobs to the next generation of identified Razakars, it said.

The meeting also decided to send a summary to the Cabinet Division to resolve the incidents related to hoisting the national flag by anti-Liberation elements on different days in some places.

Committee members Liberation War Affairs Minister AKM Mozammel Huq, Razi Uddin Ahmed, Kazi Firoz Rashid, Waresat Hossain Belal, and Moslem Uddin Ahmed, among others, attended the meeting.