Asif Mahmud Shojib Bhuyain, adviser for the ministries of local government as well as youth and sports, has said the July uprising preserved the independence Bangladesh had gained through the Liberation War in 1971.
“The country was born in 1971, and we achieved independence. It was a bloody independence. We believe that 2024 has preserved that independence," Asif said while speaking to journalists on Wednesday after paying tribute to the martyrs of the Liberation War at the National Martyrs' Memorial in Savar on the occasion of Independence Day.
He said: “But over the past 16 years, the concept of that independence was destroyed. We believe that until every citizen of the country feels independent, has freedom of speech, and has freedom of expression, a merely independent territory holds no value. We believe that '24 has safeguarded that independence."
"In 2024, through another bloody mass uprising, we protected the independence achieved in 1971. This was one of the crucial phases of that struggle. This independence will remain in Bangladesh in the coming days. Never again will the people of this independent land feel enslaved," added Asif, one of the key figures of the July uprising.