Opposition does not embrace July, PM says, voicing anger over absence at memorial inauguration

Saying the BNP embraces July as it does 1971, Prime Minister Tarique Rahman has said the government is helping in various ways with the treatment of those injured in July and with the members of their families. On Monday morning, at the inauguration of the 'July Memorial' at Osmani Udyan in the capital, held with the family members of the martyrs of the July mass uprising, he voiced anger over the opposition's absence.

The Prime Minister reached the venue at 10am on Monday. He then inaugurated the memorial together with Md Mokbul Hossain, father of martyr Abu Sayed; Mostafizur Rahman, father of Mir Mahfuzur Rahman Mugdho; Sanjida Khan Dipti, mother of Shahariar Khan Anas; and Mohammad Shafiul Alam, father of Wasim Akram.

At the same time, he also inaugurated the modernised Osmani Udyan. After the inauguration, the Prime Minister planted a sapling in the memorial premises, later toured the park premises and inspected the library installed in the park.

Saying the present opposition is opposing only for the sake of opposing, the Prime Minister said they will certainly oppose the government, but it should be constructive. He alleged that the opposition does not embrace July.

That is why, despite being invited, the opposition leader did not join the inauguration ceremony of the July Memorial — this allegation by the Prime Minister became the most discussed part of the speech at the ceremony.

He said, if they had an objection to sitting on the same stage with us, they could have sat with the martyr families if they wished. And yet it is because they voted that we are in government and they are in opposition.

The Prime Minister said that before the election, the present opposition surely also went to the people, and so did we. The people decided who would run the state for the next five years. In that reckoning, they may have put the BNP in government, and in the same way given support to the opposition as well.

He said that by not coming to today's ceremony, the opposition has also disrespected the martyr families. He explained the opposition's absence at this inauguration, organised with the martyr families present, in exactly this way.

Present at the ceremony were Home Minister Salah Uddin Ahmad, Local Government, Rural Development and Cooperatives Minister Abdul Moin Khan, State Minister Mir Shah Alam, the Prime Minister's Principal Secretary A B M Abdus Sattar, Dhaka South City Corporation administrator Abdus Salam and Dhaka North City Corporation administrator Shafikul Islam Khan Milton.

The two projects have been implemented with the aim of preserving the memory of the martyrs of the July mass uprising and improving the civic environment of the capital. To preserve the memory of the martyrs of the July mass uprising of 2024, the 90-foot-high 'July Memorial' has been built.

On the body of the memorial, built over about one acre of land, the names of 834 martyrs have been engraved through laser cutting. In front, 20 symbolic grave plaques have been installed.

The memorial has a relief sculpture 163 feet long and four and a half feet high on the outside, and 171 feet long and seven and a half feet high inside. It depicts the history of Bangladesh's successive movements and struggles, including the Language Movement of 1952, the mass uprising of 1969, the great Liberation War of 1971, the mass movement of 1990 and the July mass uprising of 2024.

The historic Osmani Udyan, covering 23 acres at the junction of old and new Dhaka in the capital, has also been modernised. Under the project, the park has been developed as a green, safe and modern civic recreation centre.

As part of the modernisation, alongside renovating the old water body, five new water bodies have been built. Preserving the existing trees, new tree planting and green islands have been created. The park has about 3.1 kilometres of walking paths, a gymnasium, a pagoda, public toilets, parking and ghats on the water bodies. In addition, a rainwater harvesting system with a capacity of 50,000 litres has been kept.

The park, arranged in two levels, has a fast-movement path two metres above the road. Although the inauguration of the memorial and the park began the formal chapter of preserving July's memory, the Prime Minister's political speech at the ceremony — especially his remarks about the opposition's absence — became the main topic of the day's discussion.