Bangladesh Nationalist Party chair Tarique Rahman on Sunday said that if their party was voted to power a separate department under the Ministry of Liberation War Affairs would be established to look after the families of those killed and injured in the 2024 July mass uprising.

He made the pledge while speaking at an exchange of views with family members of the July martyrs and injured at the Krishibid Institution, Bangladesh in the capital. The BNP organised the event.

Recalling the BNP’s past role, Tarique said that when the party was previously in power it had created the Ministry of Liberation War Affairs to take care of the families of those martyred and injured in the 1971 Liberation War.

‘We have decided that if the BNP is able to form the government in the future with the support of the people, we will create another department within the ministry for the families of the July martyrs and the July fighters so that, at least to some extent, their hardships can be addressed,’ he said.

‘We can’t bring back those whom we have lost, but we want to ensure that the needs and problems of the  family members left behind are properly looked after,’ he added.

Tarique said that the 2024 July fighters would also be recognised as freedom fighters, noting that the independence and sovereignty achieved in 1971 had been protected through the 2024 movement.

‘In 1971, people sacrificed their lives to achieve independence while in exactly the same way the fighters of 2024 fought to protect our independence and sovereignty,’ he said.

Referring to repression under the previous regime, Tarique said that during more than one and a half decades of the fascist rule, thousands of people had been subjected to enforced disappearance, killing and abduction.

‘Only in the July mass uprising, more than 1,400 people were martyred while around 30,000 were injured. Among them, about 500 people lost one or both eyes and many became permanently disabled,’ he said, adding that the killing of around 1,500 people in July could ‘in one word, be described as genocide’.

He commented that it was because of the courage and sacrifices of the July fighters that the ruling clique was forced not only to relinquish state power but also to flee the country.

Tarique said that in the 2024 mass uprising against authoritarian rule people from all sectors, classes and professions — regardless of party affiliation, religion or ethnicity — took to the streets, and images captured during the movement bore witness to that unity.

Describing the upcoming parliamentary elections as ‘extremely important’, Tarique said that it was crucial for establishing a safe and democratic Bangladesh.

‘The objective of those who were martyred or injured was to build a self-reliant, safe, and democratic Bangladesh,’ he said, warning that failure to do so would mean continued mourning rather than democratic victory.

He said that both the state and the BNP had responsibilities towards those killed and injured during the long anti-government movement.

‘If the BNP receives the people’s mandate to run the state, we will fulfil that responsibility and commitment step by step,’ he said.

Issuing caution, Tarique urged the democracy-loving people to remain vigilant against attempts to turn the movement into a partisan interest.

At the programme, the BNP chair’s wife Zubaida Rahman sat alongside the families of the martyrs in the guest row.