Nahid calls Museum Bill passage 'daylight political fraud'

Opposition Chief Whip Nahid Islam on Friday denounced the passage of the July Mass Uprising Memorial Museum Bill 2026 as "daylight political fraud" and a "festival of institutional politicization," accusing the ruling party of breaking a cross-party agreement by introducing last-minute amendments that placed the museum under direct government control.

Speaking during an unscheduled discussion in parliament after Culture Minister Nitai Roy Chowdhury presented the bill, Nahid Islam detailed how the ruling party had violated the consensus reached in the special committee formed to review the interim government's ordinances.

"You know, Mr. Speaker, that a special committee was formed regarding the interim government's ordinances. We reached consensus on 98 ordinances that they would come to parliament as bills and be passed as they are. The July Mass Uprising Memorial Museum Bill was on that list. But today, just half an hour before the bill was tabled, an amendment was introduced. This broke the political agreement and consensus," Nahid Islam told the House.

The opposition leader reserved his sharpest criticism for the amendment replacing an independent expert with the Culture Minister or State Minister as chairperson of the museum's governing board. "The original bill stipulated that a government-appointed expert would head the board. But the amendment has made the Culture Minister or State Minister the chairperson. Institutions like the Bangla Academy, Shilpakala Academy, or the National Museum are traditionally led by subject-matter experts. The July Uprising Museum is not a branch museum. It is an independent specialized institution. Why must a minister be its chairperson?" he asked.

Nahid Islam drew a broader picture of what he described as a systematic pattern of institutional capture. "We are witnessing the politicization of every institution in Bangladesh. Bangladesh Bank has been seized and politicized. Local government institutions are being politicized. Even the cricket board has been politicized and turned into a family affair. Our honorable ministers' children are now cricket board members. Will even the July Uprising Museum not be spared?" he said.

He warned that the amended bill gives the government power to remove any board member at will, effectively placing the museum under total state control despite the July uprising being a collective achievement involving all political stakeholders. "If the government continues to keep everything under its control, no institution in this country will survive," he cautioned.

Questioning the very purpose of the opposition's continued presence in parliament, Nahid Islam said the ruling party's majority gives it the ability to pass any bill it wishes but asked why the special committee was formed at all if the opposition's voice carried no weight. "If we are not given the opportunity to speak, how will this parliament protect the public interest? This amendment was passed through deception and fraud in broad daylight," he said.

He called on the government to withdraw the amendments and pass the bill in accordance with the special committee's original consensus, asking why every institution must remain under the control of what he termed the government's political machinery. "If this continues, there is no reason for us to remain here in parliament," he declared, before the opposition ultimately staged a walkout in protest.