PM inaugurates July Memorial Museum, opens to visitors Thursday

Prime Minister Tareque Rahman on Wednesday inaugurated the July Memorial Museum at the former Ganabhaban, commemorating those killed and injured during the July 2024 mass uprising.

The museum will open to the public from Thursday. Admission has been fixed at Tk 50 for adults and Tk 25 for children, Cultural Affairs Minister Nitai Roy Chowdhury said at a press briefing on Tuesday.

Visitors will be admitted through scheduled time slots and must book tickets online in advance to help manage crowds, he said.

The inauguration programme included speeches by family members of the July martyrs and participants in the uprising, a documentary on the movement and a cultural performance.

The museum begins operations before completing recruitment for its permanent workforce. Although applications for 96 posts were invited in January, the recruitment process has yet to be completed.

Museum Director General Tanzim Wahab said nearly 15,000 applications had been received and were still being scrutinised. Until permanent appointments are made, the museum will operate with outsourced personnel and staff temporarily assigned from the Bangladesh National Museum.

The museum has been established at Ganabhaban, the former official residence of ex-prime minister Sheikh Hasina, which was extensively damaged after protesters entered the premises following her ouster on Aug 5, 2024.

Officials said the project cost Tk 110.92 crore against an approved allocation of Tk 123.45 crore. The government has allocated Tk 17.5 crore for the museum’s operations in the 2026-27 fiscal year.