No one is the sole claimant of 7 November and the July uprising: Home Minister
Neither National Revolution and Solidarity Day nor the July mass uprising of 2024 belongs to any single political party or group, Home Minister Salahuddin Ahmed has said. He said the 7 November soldiers-people's revolution was an achievement of Bangladeshi nationalism and of freedom-loving people from all walks of life, and that the spirit of the July uprising likewise belongs to the whole nation.
The Home Minister made the remarks as chief guest at a discussion and cultural programme held at the Officers' Club Dhaka in the capital on Saturday night to mark National Revolution and Solidarity Day.
Salahuddin Ahmed said 7 November is not the sole property of any particular political party. It is an eternal and universal achievement of Bangladeshi nationalism and of freedom-loving people from all walks of life, he said.
Referring to 1857, he said what the British called the Sepoy Mutiny was in fact the first war of independence of the subcontinent. Although that revolution failed, the soldiers-people's revolution of 7 November 1975 did not fail, he said. Had that day's revolution not succeeded, Bangladesh could have remained bound in the chains of subjugation for a long time, he added.
Speaking about the July 2024 mass uprising, the minister said it was not built in a single day. It came through the sacrifices, blood, enforced disappearances, killings and extrajudicial murders of many people between 2009 and 2024. That is why it is not appropriate for any particular group or political force to claim sole ownership of it, he said — its spirit belongs to the whole nation.
Referring to 7 November 1975, the Home Minister added that on that day the soldiers and the people freed martyred President Ziaur Rahman from captivity and entrusted him with leading the country. He said Ziaur Rahman did not bring about that revolution out of lust for power or on his own initiative; rather, the people made him their leader out of the nation's need. Through that revolution, he safeguarded the country's independence and sovereignty, the minister said.
Calling on civil service officers to perform their duties above political influence and temptation, Salahuddin Ahmed said they must serve the republic and work sincerely to implement the manifesto of the elected government that holds the people's mandate. Government employees should disobey unlawful orders and run the state and perform election-time duties impartially, he said.
The minister said that in the past, a section of the civil service had helped organise voterless and night-time elections because of political pressure, greed or fear. That damaged various institutions, and the civil administration paid the ultimate price for it, he said. He advised everyone to remain alert so that the administration is never again used for political purposes to establish one-party rule or prolong power.
The programme was chaired by Nasimul Gani, president of the Officers' Club Dhaka and cabinet secretary. The special guests were Bijon Kanti Sarkar, special assistant to the Prime Minister on Hindu, Buddhist, Christian and ethnic-minority affairs, and A B M Abdus Sattar, principal secretary to the Prime Minister's Office and general secretary of the Officers' Club Dhaka.
The welcome address was given by Abdul Khalek, treasurer of the Officers' Club Dhaka and senior secretary of the Secondary and Higher Education Division. Others who spoke at the programme included former secretary and former executive director of DTCA Mashiur Rahman, former secretary S M Zahirul Islam and freedom fighter and former secretary Masud Alamgir Hossain. The concluding remarks were given by M A Razek, vice-president of the Officers' Club Dhaka.
