July memorial inaugurated: opposition leader stays away despite invitation, prime minister angry
Photo: Collected
Prime Minister Tarique Rahman has inaugurated the ‘July Memorial’ built at Osmani Udyan in the capital in memory of the martyrs of the July mass uprising. He took part in the inaugural ceremony on Monday (19 October) morning along with members of the martyrs’ families. At the same time he also inaugurated the modernised Osmani Udyan.
At the ceremony the prime minister said, ‘Before the election the present opposition surely went to the people. We went too. It is the people who decided who will run the state for the next five years. On that count they have perhaps seated the BNP in government. And they have given the opposition support in the same way. We believe that by not coming to today’s ceremony the opposition has slighted the martyrs’ families.’
Remarking that the present opposition is opposing merely for the sake of opposition, the prime minister said, ‘They will of course oppose the government. But it should be constructive.’ He also alleged that the opposition does not embrace July. That, he noted, is why the leader of the opposition did not join the inaugural ceremony of the July Memorial at the Osmani Memorial Auditorium despite receiving an invitation.
The prime minister further said, ‘If they object to being seated on the same stage as us, they could have sat with the martyrs’ families if they wished. Yet it is because they voted that we are in government and they are in the opposition.’
Also present at the ceremony were Home Minister Salah Uddin Ahmed; Minister for Local Government, Rural Development and Cooperatives Abdul Moyeen Khan; State Minister Mir Shahe Alam; the prime minister’s principal secretary A B M Abdus Sattar; Dhaka South City Corporation administrator Abdus Salam; and Dhaka North City Corporation administrator Shafiqul Islam Khan Milton.
Background
According to a Jago News report of 12 October 2025, construction of the July Memorial began that day with the laying of the foundation stone by Local Government, Rural Development and Cooperatives Adviser Asif Mahmud Sajib Bhuiyan.
The same report said Dhaka South City Corporation began the construction work and the Local Government Division financed the project.
The numbers
That Jago News report of 12 October 2025 put the construction cost of the memorial at Tk 46 crore 40 lakh.
A Kaler Kantho report of 19 October 2026, citing the prime minister, said the memorial carries the names of 813 martyrs.
Sources
Original report: Bangladesh Pratidin | Background sources: Jago News, 12 October 2025; Kaler Kantho, 19 October 2026
