Bangladesh’s interim government is considering promulgating a special ordinance to shield participants of the 2024 July uprising from prosecution, following mounting protests by student groups and activists.
The mass-circulation dailies Prothom Alo and Ittefaq reported that steps are being taken to grant legal protection to the so-called “July warriors”, whose violent street protests led to the ouster of then Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s Awami League government.
The proposed move is said to mirror a post-independence law enacted by an Awami League administration to protect freedom fighters of the 1971 Liberation War.
According to the reports, a meeting chaired by Home Adviser Lt Gen (retd) Jahangir Alam Chowdhury on Monday discussed proclaiming such an ordinance.
The initiative was prompted by two recent arrests involving individuals identified as leaders of the July uprising.
In the first case, law enforcement agencies arrested “July warrior” Tahrima Jannat Surovi on December 25 on charges of extortion and blackmail. She was later released on bail by a court in Gazipur, on the outskirts of Dhaka.
In a separate incident, police in northeastern Habiganj arrested Mahdi Hassan on Saturday, a day after he and a group of supporters allegedly went to a local police station and threatened the officer-in-charge. A Habiganj court granted him bail the following day.
The arrests triggered widespread protests by activists of Students Against Discrimination (SAD), the group that spearheaded the July uprising and from which a major faction later formed the National Citizen Party (NCP).
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Demonstrations were held in Dhaka, Habiganj and other areas, with protesters demanding the unconditional release of detained leaders and legal immunity for “July warriors”.
The escalating agitation, the reports said, has prompted the interim government to move towards promulgating an ordinance to protect participants of the July uprising from future legal action.
