Prime Minister Tarique Rahman on Monday accused the opposition of disrespecting the families of July uprising victims by skipping the inauguration of the July Memorial at Osmani Udyan in Dhaka despite being invited.
Speaking at the ceremony attended by victims’ family members, he said attempts to bring back the Awami League in the name of opposing the government would amount to a betrayal of the July martyrs.
Tarique accused the opposition of opposing the government for the sake of opposition, saying criticism should be constructive and guided by the interests of the people.
“If they had objections to sitting on the same platform with us, they could still have met the martyrs’ families,” he said, adding that voters had placed the BNP in government and the opposition in parliament.
He said both the 1971 Liberation War and the July 2024 uprising had sought to establish democratic rights.
The memorial bears the names of 813 people killed in the July uprising, whose sacrifices helped restore democratic rights and pave the way for an elected government, he added.