1
Prime Minister Tarique Rahman stated that the mass uprising of August 5, 2024, was a historic victory marking the end of a fascist rule that lasted for over a decade and a half, and the re-establishment of people’s democratic rights.
In a message delivered on the occasion of ‘July Mass Uprising Day’, he said that the national unity forged through these sacrifices must be protected at all costs. He added that dictatorship, fascism, extremism, or radicalism must never be allowed to rise again in Bangladesh.
Tarique Rahman stated that August 5 is a day of joy, victory, and the re-establishment of political rights for freedom-loving and democracy-seeking people. On this day in 2024, heroic students and the general populace achieved a historic victory after a prolonged movement.
He claimed that the fascist government was forced to leave the country in the face of the mass uprising, and the people tasted freedom. To commemorate this day, ‘July Mass Uprising Day’ is being observed nationally.
In his message, he mentioned that BNP, along with other anti-fascist political parties and dissidents, suffered prolonged persecution in the movement to establish people’s voting and democratic rights. Many people faced enforced disappearance, murder, lawsuits, attacks, and oppression. He also noted that former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia had to endure a long period of imprisonment in false cases.
Tarique Rahman said that secret detention centers or ‘Ainaghar’ (mirror houses) were created in the country to suppress the voice of democracy. Many people were held there for extended periods, and many went missing.
He further alleged that various constitutional institutions, including the judiciary and the Election Commission, were weakened, and the electoral system was rendered questionable by stripping people of their voting rights. He also claimed that the country’s economy, education, and health sectors suffered damage.
Referring to the mass uprising, Tarique Rahman said that people from all walks of life, including students, the general public, farmers, laborers, rickshaw pullers, garment workers, journalists, intellectuals, and cultural activists, unitedly took to the streets. He claimed that many people lost their lives due to violence in suppressing the movement, and many were injured and permanently disabled.
He remembered those who died in the mass uprising, including martyrs Abu Saeed, Wasim Akram, and Mugdho, stating that their sacrifices would remain an inspiration for democracy-seeking people.
The Prime Minister said that to make this change, achieved through the sacrifices of thousands, meaningful, a just and democratic Bangladesh must be built by establishing political and economic empowerment for the people, equality, human dignity, and social justice.
He stated that dissent is natural in a democracy. However, everyone must be careful that dissent does not turn into division or hostility. It is everyone’s responsibility to protect the national unity achieved through bloodshed.
Tarique Rahman said that 1971 was the struggle for achieving independence, while 2024 was the fight to protect the independence of the country and its people. He added that Bangladesh would never forget the martyrs of the 2024 mass uprising, just as it remembers the martyrs of the Liberation War.
