The government has announced plans to open Ganabhaban to the public and transform it into the July Revolution Memorial Museum.
Adviser Asif Mahmud Shojib Bhuiyan shared this information during a press conference following Thursday's Adviser Council meeting.
"Ganabhaban will remain as people have left it. That means the government will turn it into a museum without carrying out any major change," he said.
Ganabhaban, once the official residence of former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, was taken over by students and the public in a victory celebration after she fled to India in the face of student protests on August 5.
The Advisor Council meeting on Thursday made this decision one month after Sheikh Hasina flee to India in the face of mass student protests.
Adviser Asif said: “Ganabhaban, which means house of masses, was never a place for mass people. Finally, the country’s masses conquered that building amid the mass student uprising. So, we have decided to open this building to the mass people, and it will be turned into a museum.”
“The Ganabhaban will be established as the July Uprising Memorial Museum to preserve the memory of the July Uprising, the memory of the martyrs, and all the injustices that happened during the previous fascist regime,” told Adviser Asif, who is one of the key leaders of the July mass uprising.
Asif said: “Ganabhaban premises will be kept in the same condition, and within the building, we will set up a museum to preserve the memory of this uprising.”
He said that memorial museums exist in many countries, including South Korea, and the foreign ministry and housing ministry will coordinate the reconstruction of Ganabhaban as a museum.
While responding to a query about the outgoing Awami League’s political activities, Asif said: “People of Bangladesh will decide the fascist party’s future. But as the government has yet to decide about the process of their political activities, we will discourage it."
Chief Adviser Dr Muhammad Yunus chaired the Advisor Council meeting, where most of the advisers participated.
Thursday marked one month since former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina resigned amid student-led mass uprising and fled to India leaving the country in a leadership vacuum for a couple of days.
The country was in a state of lawlessness until Nobel laureate Prof Muhammad Yunus returned home from Paris and took oath as Chief Adviser of the interim government on August 8, chosen by the student leaders and backed by the army.
Hasina’s fall was so dramatic that she had only 45 minutes to leave her official residence Ganobhaban, which was stormed by jubilant protesters shortly after her exit.
The student protests began in July against a quota system in government jobs that critics said favoured people with connections to Hasina’s party.
National Gene Bank Policy
The Advisory Council on Thursday formed a committee to examine, update and recast the draft “National Gene Bank Management Policy-2024” for proper conservation and sustainable use of genetic resources to ensure food security facing climate risk.
The draft policy was placed in the Advisory Council meeting for approval, according to a press release of the Cabinet Division.
Adviser for Environment, Forest and Climate Change was made convener of the committee while the Agriculture Adviser and Fisheries and Livestock Adviser were also included in it.
The release said the Ministry of Science and Technology will provide secretarial support to the committee.
The committee has been asked to finalize an updated and revised policy. The Ministry of Science and Technology will send it to the Cabinet Division for placing it in the advisory council meeting.
The Advisory Council has formally adopted a felicitation motion for Bangladesh National Cricket Team’s 2-0 victory in the two-match Test series against host Pakistan, which will be issued through a gazette notification.