Dhaka: Water Resources Minister Shahiduddin Chowdhury Anee emphasized on Sunday that the July mass uprising was a result of a collective movement and should not be attributed solely to two political parties. He expressed these views during a discussion titled “Martyrs’ Sacrifice, Our Responsibility and a New Bangladesh,” organized by the Jagrata July Forum at the Central Kochi-Kachar Mela auditorium in Segunbagicha.

According to United News of Bangladesh, Anee highlighted that the foundation of the July uprising was laid over 16 years of anti-authoritarian movements. “The united movement and struggle gave birth to the events of July 36,” he stated. Anee criticized the formation of the National Citizen Party (NCP), suggesting that individuals who previously opposed Bangladesh’s independence are now providing shelter to those forming new political parties.

The minister also pointed out that many leaders and activists from Jatiyatabadi Chhatra Dal (JCD) who were actively involved in the July movement have not been given due recognition. “Those who were involved in the movement under the banner of Chhatra Dal, including many from my own district, are absent from the list. Only two or four names are there,” he lamented.

Anee shared his personal experience of being in contact with activists until his imprisonment on July 25. “But after I was released, I could no longer find that leadership. A new leadership emerged, and today they are in the opposition. Those two parties are Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami and the National Citizen Party (NCP),” he noted. He questioned the exclusion of many participants, asking, “Where did everyone else go? Did they not participate in the movement? Were they not part of the struggle against fascism? Were they not victims of enforced disappearance, killings or martyrdom?”

Additionally, Anee criticized the previous interim government for labeling certain individuals as the “masterminds” of the July uprising. “If the interim government had not called them the ‘masterminds,’ they would not have gained so much influence. Calling them the masterminds was itself a mistake,” he asserted. Anee concluded by stating that the true masterminds were the people and general students of the country. Expatriates’ Welfare and Overseas Employment State Minister Nurul Haque Nur and State Minister for Liberation War Affairs Ishraque Hossain also participated in the program.