Legal, Justice, and Parliamentary Affairs Adviser Dr. Asif Nazrul has stated that if Bangladesh cannot be built back better than it was under the Awami League government, the July Uprising will be considered a failure.
Dr. Nazrul made these remarks on Saturday evening at a discussion held at the National Museum in Dhaka. The event was organized by the "Bangiya Sahitya Sabha," where he discussed his novel "Ami Abu Bakar."
The law adviser to the interim government said, "We used to hate the Awami League's politics of victimization through tagging, and we still oppose it."
He explained that during the previous government's tenure, many students were falsely labeled as belonging to organizations like Jamaat-e-Islami or its student wing, Chhatra Shibir, not based on suspicion, but on a clear understanding. Despite knowing that these students were not involved with such groups, they were tortured under various tags in order to confiscate their laptops, harass them for entertainment, or bolster personal power.
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The adviser added, "We have to be much better than the previous government's cruelty, inhumanity, immorality, politics of tagging, vulgarity, and inequality. Otherwise, the loss of so many students and young lives, the mutilation of so many people, will be a gross disrespect to them."
Dr. Nazrul further mentioned that under the previous government, there were unwritten rules in Bangladesh prohibiting discussion on three topics: one was about Sheikh Hasina, the second was about India, and the third, which he deemed controversial, would remain unspoken.
At the event, writers including Mahbub Murshed, Andalib Rashdi, Papri Rahman, Mohammad Nazim Uddin, Md. Rashed Khan, and Salah Uddin Shubhr, among others, discussed the relevance of Dr. Asif Nazrul's novel "Ami Abu Bakar" and his contribution to fighting against injustice.