The interim government on Thursday decided to declare August 5 as ‘Student-People Mass Uprising Day’ to mark the anniversary of the student-led July mass uprising that ousted authoritarian Awami League regime on August 5, 2024.
The government also formed a committee led by planning adviser Wahiduddin Mahmud to finalise by August 5 the ‘July Proclamation’ upholding the spirit of the mass uprising.
The decisions were made at an advisory council’s special meeting chaired by the interim government’s chief adviser Professor Muhammad Yunus, said cultural affairs adviser Mostofa Sarwar Farooki at a press briefing at the Foreign Service Academy in the capital Dhaka.
Farooki at the press briefing said that a decision was made to observe August 5 as Student-People Mass Uprising Day.
He said that the decision would be passed at an advisory council meeting on June 22 and a gazette notification would be issued next day in this regard.
The adviser said that August 5 was going to be a national day, so Student-People Mass Uprising Day would be officially observed every year in the future.
Farooki also said a 36-day state programme would begin on July 1 and run till August 5 to mark the first anniversary of the student-led mass uprising.
He said, ‘The goal is to reignite the spirit of unity that swept across the nation during the July uprising.’
Noting that nine advisers were present at Thursday’s advisory council meeting, chief adviser’s press secretary Shafiqul Alam at the press briefing said that a committee led by education adviser CR Abrar was formed to oversee the issue of autonomy of Bangladesh Television and Bangladesh Betar, two state-run media outlets.
Referring to the findings of the Media Reform Commission, he said that many television licences in the past were given to serve particular political ideologies.
The committee will also investigate the licence allocations in the past and recommend policies for future licensing of the TV channels, the press secretary said.
He also said that another committee was formed to prepare the ‘July Proclamation’, a long-standing demand of the student and civil society groups.
The proclamation is expected to be unveiled before August 5, he said.
The planning adviser-led committee will consult with students, political parties and other stakeholders to finalise the proclamation by August 5.
Earlier, on December 31, 2024, the Students Against Discrimination that spearheaded the July uprising and the Jatiya Nagorik Committee, a political platform, called a programme at the Central Shaheed Minar in the capital Dhaka with the aim of announcing a July uprising proclamation.
However, a day before the programme, the interim government said that it would formally make the proclamation based on the opinions of all participating students, political parties and stakeholders.