Ensure accurate list of July martyrs

Since the July mass uprising of 2024, we have been hearing that the government is working with great seriousness to prepare a complete and accurate list of July martyrs. In January 2025 the government published the list of ‘July Mass Uprising–2024’ martyrs in the form of a gazette. A gazette on the matter was issued by the Ministry of Liberation War Affairs. According to the official gazette, the number of martyrs in the mass uprising was stated as 834. But yesterday, Monday (15 September), media reports revealed that the names of 52 people who were not martyrs had been included in the martyrs’ list.

Investigations over the past two months have found that of the 834 names on the official list at least 52 are of people who do not qualify to be included among the martyrs. Of these, 35 died by burning, 3 in road accidents, 1 from electrocution, 2 from illness, 4 in killings, disputes and clashes arising from prior enmities, and 2 for other reasons. Of the remaining five, three were police officers killed, one was a Chhatra League leader and one was an attacker of protesters — whose names should not be included in the martyrs’ list. The reason is that the definition of a martyr is clearly specified in the ‘Ordinance on the Welfare and Rehabilitation of Martyr Families and July Fighters, 2025’. It states that those will be recognised as martyrs who died during the July mass uprising as a result of attacks by law-and-order forces under the control of the then government or by members of the political party in power at that time.

Even so, how such a malpractice occurred must be thoroughly investigated. The government must give a clear account for this. Why were the names of bogus martyrs entered on the list? Who compiled this list? We had hoped those who led the July mass uprising would be involved in preparing the list. Many of them have since gone into politics, and perhaps that made it impossible for them to do so. But in this age of information technology, and in the face of such a large event that happened in full view, it is entirely unexpected that such a large-scale irregularity should occur.

No government in Bangladesh has been able, in the past 53 years, to prepare a complete list of martyred intellectuals. The interim government has also shown its failure in a recent incident. Are we, as a nation, so unfit that we are still unable to prepare an acceptable list? This is not only shameful and regrettable; it is a crime. If the media, after two months of investigation, can bring the correct facts to light, why could the government not do so? Why was such negligence shown on so important an issue? The relevant authorities must be held accountable for this and must immediately prepare the correct list of July martyrs.