Disaster Management and Relief Minister Asadul Habib Dulu on Saturday said the July movement was the culmination of a 17-year struggle that ultimately took shape in the mass uprising of July 2024.
He made the remarks at a programme at the Lalmonirhat Circuit House auditorium.
At the event, financial assistance from the prime minister was distributed among people and families affected by enforced disappearances, killings, injuries and losses to families or businesses during the previous government’s tenure.
Cheques were handed over to 111 affected people and families of those killed in the district.
Dulu said people who were killed or persecuted during the previous 17 years should be listed alongside those who took part in the July mass uprising.
He said their prolonged sacrifices had created the conditions for the July movement and eventually led to the fall of the previous government.
Describing the prime minister as humane, Dulu expressed hope that the government would consider the cases of people subjected to political persecution, include eligible victims in the official gazette and bring them under the government’s allowance scheme.
He said lists of identified martyrs and other affected people in Lalmonirhat had already been collected, while financial assistance and employment had been provided to many of them.
The process was continuing across the country, he added.
Speaking about the Teesta River project, Dulu said the government was working to implement the Teesta Master Plan.
He said a technical study was under way and expressed hope that the main construction work under the plan could formally begin in 2027.
The minister also said the process of withdrawing what he described as false and fictitious political cases filed during the previous 17 years was continuing, with many affected people already being cleared of such cases.
Lalmonirhat Deputy Commissioner Muha Rashedul Haq Pradhan, Superintendent of Police Mohammad Asaduzzaman, Pourashava BNP General Secretary Salam and other local dignitaries attended the programme.
