July Uprising must be defended: Salahuddin

 
Home Minister Salahuddin Ahmed called for national unity against any return of fascism, reaffirmed that Sheikh Hasina would be brought back to Bangladesh through extradition proceedings, and said Awami League as an organisation would face trial through judicial process rather than executive order.

On Wednesday, speaking as chief guest at a discussion organised by Bangladesh Jatiyatabadi Chhatra Dal (JCD) at TSC auditorium of Dhaka University (DU), he said, freedom won through the July Uprising must be defended by all sections of society. 

“Winning independence is easier than protecting it, he said, adding that the government's 31-point programme and the National July Charter,” signed by political parties, laid the basis for democratic reform of state institutions.

On the question of bringing Hasina back, the minister was direct. “There is no scope for Sheikh Hasina to surrender on her own terms. A formal extradition request has already been sent by the interim government. She will be arrested upon return and the court's verdict will be enforced,” he said. 

He added that Interpol arrest warrants had been issued for ministers, MPs and officials of the former government who are abroad, and cited the recent arrest of former IGP Benazir Ahmed as one result of this process.

Addressing calls to ban Awami League as a political party, Salahuddin Ahmed said the government would not use administrative or executive orders to dissolve any political organisation. “We want the political fate of this organisation, which was a partner of fascism, to be determined entirely through legal and judicial process,” he said.
 
He noted that amendments to the International Crimes Tribunal Act and anti-terrorism law now allow Awami League to be tried as an organisation, alongside Hasina as an individual. Article 47 of the Bangladesh Constitution, he said, already provides for trying organisations for genocide and crimes against humanity.

Drawing a parallel with post-war Europe, the minister likened a potential judicial outcome for Awami League to the Nuremberg Tribunal's treatment of the Nazi Party and Gestapo after World War II. He expressed regret that the party and its leader showed no remorse for what he called an unprecedented massacre, and were instead labelling July Uprising participants as militants while seeking to return to politics.

The minister warned against any attempt to use the July revolution's legacy for narrow political ends. “The credit for this revolution belongs to no single party. Ordinary people of this country put their lives on the line, the credit is only theirs,” he said. He also announced that Gono Bhaban would be converted into the ‘July Martyrs Museum’ as a lesson for future governments on the consequences of autocracy.

Chhatra Dal central president Rakibul Islam Rakib presided over the event while BNP joint secretary-general Habib-un-Nabi Khan Sohel spoke as special guest. Chhatra Dal DU unit general secretary Nahiduzzaman Shipon delivered the welcome address. Programme was moderated by Chhatra Dal central general secretary Nasir Uddin Nasir. A special prayer was held for the martyrs of the July Uprising.