July victims’ families, survivors protest on street near secretariat

Families of those killed and injured in the July mass uprising last year are holding a protest rally and sit-in today, Sunday.

The demonstrators are staging the protest demanding the resignation of law adviser Asif Nazrul and the chief adviser’s special assistant (Ministry of Home Affairs), Khoda Baksh Chowdhury.

The protest began around 11:00 am on a road near the National Press Club under the banner of ‘Martyrs’ Families, Injured Families, Students and Public’. The road is located close to the secretariat, the heart of the administration. Police personnel are deployed at the scene.

At the protest rally, relatives of those killed and injured in the July uprising said the killers are yet to be arrested, while suspects in the murder cases are being granted bail.

Recently, police attacked members of the martyrs’ families, but no action has been taken over the incident. They said they are demanding the resignation of Asif Nazrul and Khoda Baksh Chowdhury for these reasons.

Rabiul Awal, brother of martyr Imam Hossain Taiyeb, complained that justice for the killings during the July mass uprising is being deliberately delayed.

Shahin Ahmed Khan, who was injured during the July mass uprising, said the advisers have forgotten the pain of the martyrs’ families.

He grudgingly added that a sub-inspector of police involved in the July killings has been granted bail.

Sheikh Mustafiz, another injured victim, said that on 19 August police attacked the family members of martyrs and injured in front of the secretariat, yet the government has taken no action.

During the protest, families of the martyrs and the injured also chanted slogans demanding resignation of the law adviser and the special assistant to the chief adviser.