JRA demands opening of July Memorial Museum by August 5

The pro-July organisation July Revolutionary Alliance (JRA) on Thursday demanded that the July Memorial Museum be opened to the public by August 5, alleging that bureaucratic complications have been delaying its inauguration.

The organisation, accompanied by family members of those killed during the July Uprising, made the demand at a press briefing held in front of the National Museum in Shahbagh.

Speakers described the museum as a living testament to the 2024 July Uprising and the massacres and brutalities of former prime minister Sheikh Hasina’s 15-year authoritarian rule.

"The July Memorial Museum must be fully operational and opened to the public by August 5, without any further delays caused by bureaucratic procedures," the organisation said.

The JRA alleged that Cultural Affairs Secretary Kaniz Mawla was attempting to amend recruitment regulations in violation of the July Museum Act passed by the Parliament.

The organisation demanded that qualified and experienced professionals who have been involved with the museum since its inception be appointed in accordance with the law. It also alleged that serving police officers have been used to intimidate and threaten those experts.

According to the JRA, advanced technology worth millions of dollars, installed by a team of Chinese experts, as well as artefacts related to the BDR incident, Shapla Chattar, and those killed during the July Uprising have been left vulnerable due to inadequate maintenance.

The July Memorial Museum is intended to preserve materials related to past political repression under Hasina's government and to commemorate the student-led mass uprising of 2024.

The building, formerly known as Ganabhaban and used as the official residence of Hasina, was transformed into the museum by the interim government led by Nobel peace prize laureate Professor Muhammad Yunus.