Chief Adviser Professor Muhammad Yunus has urged all to work together to utilize the opportunity created with the sacrifice of the July martyrs, aiming to build a new Bangladesh.
"Everyone must work together to utilize this opportunity created in exchange for their sacrifice,” he said in a message issued on Tuesday on the occasion of July Martyrs’ Day.
"Let us move forward towards building a new Bangladesh with the spirit of July -- this is our pledge today," he added.
He said that for the first time, July Martyrs’ Day will be observed across the country on Wednesday, July 16.
"On this day, I remember with deep respect all the martyrs who sacrificed their lives in the July uprising to make the nation free from the chains of tyranny," the chief adviser said.
He said that July 16 is a remarkable day in the history of the mass uprising of students, workers and commoners.
On this day, he said, at least six people were martyred in Chittagong, Rangpur and Dhaka in police firing and criminal attacks on the students, who were protesting for the abolition of the discriminatory quota system.
The self-sacrifice of these fearless heroes gave a strong impetus to the movement, Yunus said.
He said hundreds of thousands of students, workers and people took to the streets across the country in protest, while the number of martyrs increased, keeping pace with the increase in the intensity of the movement.
The anti-quota movement soon turned into an anti-government movement, Yunus said, adding that the dictator fled the country in the face of the fierce movement of people from all walks of life.
He said that a new sunrise of liberation emerged in exchange for the blood of hundreds of martyrs.
"Our July martyrs have written an epic heroic story in the anti-dictator mass uprising of 2024."
To uphold the contribution of the martyred and injured July fighters, the interim government, after assuming office, has taken various initiatives for their welfare and their families, the chief adviser said.
To preserve the memory of the martyrs in the July uprising and for the welfare of the martyrs' families and the injured, he said, the "July Mass Uprising Directorate" and the “July Shaheed Smrity Foundation” were established.
He mentioned that the process of preparing a complete list of July martyrs and publishing it in the gazette is underway.
Tk30 lakh and a monthly allowance are being given to each family of the July martyrs, Yunus said.
He said similar initiatives are also being implemented for the welfare of the injured July fighters.
The chief adviser said the July martyrs dreamed of a new state system free from discrimination, corruption and autocracy.
Yunus prayed for the forgiveness and eternal peace of the departed souls of all the martyrs, who sacrificed their lives in the July uprising.
