Interim government鈥檚 cultural and information advisers on Tuesday said that the past year鈥檚 student-led mass uprising was against any forms of fascism.
Information and broadcasting adviser Mahfuz Alam and cultural affairs adviser Mostofa Sarwar Farooki made the remarks at the opening ceremony of a film screening event marking the sixth death anniversary of Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology student Abrar Fahad, held at the National Museum auditorium in the capital Dhaka.
The information and broadcasting ministry organised the film screening event.
The advisers also said that after the killing of Abrar, people mostly students became conscious about their citizen rights and aware of fascism prevailing in the country at that time.
Farooki said that the voice of Abrar did not stop and he became a symbol of the uprising, which ousted the authoritarian Awami League regime in August past year.
鈥楢brar spoke against another country鈥檚 policies but was killed by the student organisation of the ruling party, which indicated that Bangladesh was not totally independent,鈥� Farooki said, adding that the concept of 鈥榮uperior culture鈥� and 鈥榠nferior culture鈥� created the ground for discrimination and established fascism based on 鈥楤engali nationalism鈥�.
Mahfuz said that the Awami League government was against the majority Muslims culture and tagged them as 鈥楯amaat-Shibir鈥� to suppress them.
鈥楢lthough we believe that Bangladesh will be a state based on equality for all its citizens. But after the uprising, some vested groups broke the unity among the stakeholders of the movement,鈥� Mahfuz said, adding that the people of the country could not invite any other 鈥榤onolithic narrative鈥� in place of 鈥楤engali nationalism鈥�.
The event comprised 15 documentary films and a panel discussion, titled 鈥楶resentation of July mass uprising 2024 in film鈥�, participated by filmmaker Mahmudul Islam, Labib Nazmus Shakib, Raka Noushin Nawar and Rafiqul Anwar Rasel.
Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy also screened 鈥榊ou Failed to Kill Abrar Fahad!鈥�, a film produced by the cultural ministry, at its branches across the country and at Rabindra Sarobar at Dhanmondi, to mark the day.聽
Abrar Fahad, a BUET student was beaten to death in his hall on October 7, 2019, allegedly by activists of the then-ruling party Awami League鈥檚 student wing Bangladesh Chhatra League, which is now banned.
