5 Aug to be declared as ‘Student-People Uprising Day’, approval Sunday likely
Public holiday decision for 5 August awaits Advisory Council approval
Highlights
- 5 August to be observed as a public holiday
- Approval from Advisory Council on Sunday likely
- Committee formed to establish autonomous framework for Betar, BTV
- Licences issued to pvt TV channels to be scrutinised
- Policy to be adopted for future licensing of TV channels
- Committee formed to declare "July Proclamation" before 5 Aug 2025
The government has decided to declare 5 August as Student-People Uprising Day, and observe the day as a public holiday, Cultural Adviser Mostofar Sarwar Farooki said today (19 June).
"The decision was made at a special meeting of the Advisory Council presided over by Chief Adviser Muhammad Yunus in the presence of nine advisers yesterday," Farooki said at a press conference at the Foreign Service Academy yesterday.
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"The decision will be approved at the advisory council meeting on Sunday. The day [5 August] will be added as a national day, and be observed every year," added the adviser.
On 5 August 2024, the Awami League government headed by Sheikh Hasina was toppled in the face of a mass uprising led by students. Hasina and her sister Sheikh Rehana fled to India on that day and have been there since then.
It was history made by students in just a little over a month since they started their protest demanding reforms in job quotas on 1 July last year. The movement faced massive use of force by law enforcers, causing deaths and arrests, gaining momentum every day and turning into a popular movement of students and people.
It reached its peak and brought the fall of the regime on 5 August – a day now marked as "36th July" in student protesters' own calendar as they extended the deadliest month of Bangladesh's history in their countdown for final victory.
At the press briefing yesterday, Cultural Adviser Farooki further said plans were discussed at the advisory council meeting to mark one year of the July-August uprising next month, and work is ongoing to this end.
"The programme [of observance] will begin on 1 July, and the main event will start on 14 July and continue until 5 August."
Farooki said the main purpose of the programme is to revive the feeling that connected all of Bangladesh in July 2024, and to amplify that emotion.
Details of the programme will be formally announced by the CA's Press Wing on Monday, he added.
At the press briefing, Chief Adviser's Press Secretary Shafiqul Alam said the advisory council in the special meeting yesterday also made two other special decisions, including regarding state-run media— Bangladesh Betar and BTV.
A committee has been formed to work on strategies for an autonomous structure for Bangladesh Betar and BTV. The committee will be headed by Education Adviser CR Abrar.
Citing the report by the Media Reform Commission, he said private television channels were earlier granted licenses on the condition that they adhere to the political ideology of a particular party.
The committee, headed by CR Abrar, will review the process through which the licenses were issued, and at the same time, it will decide on a policy to streamline the future licensing process for TVs, added the press secretary.
Shafiqul said at the Advisory Council special meeting yesterday another committee has been formed under the leadership of Planning Adviser Wahiduddin Mahmud to ensure that the "July Proclamation" can be issued before 5 August 2025.
He said the committee will have a few more advisers as members, and will work on quick preparation of the July Proclamation in consultation with students and political parties.
The special meeting of the Advisory Council lasted for around two hours, where the events of July 2024 were also discussed for its symbolic recreation during the anniversary celebration.
Responding to a query from reporters, Shafiqul said work has already been done on the declaration of the proclamation to the July Movement, and the committee has been formed to ensure that the remaining work is done quickly.
Refuting the claims of delay in the process, he said the interim government strives to declare the "July Proclamation" before the first anniversary of the July-August Mass uprising.
Other members of the CA's Press Wing were present at the press conference.
