Agriculture Minister Dr Abdur Razzaque on Monday stressed the need for formation of a commission to unmask the masterminds and beneficiaries of the 1975 August 15 massacre.

“The massacres of August 15 (1975) and August 21 (2004) are tied in the same thread. It is needed to unmask the faces of abettors, masterminds and beneficiaries of the August 15 carnage before the nation,” he said while addressing a discussion at the Jatiya Press Club.

Bangabandhu Sangskritik Jote arranged the discussion and doa-mahfil on the occasion of the National Mourning Day, commemorating the martyrs of the 1975 August 15 and the 2004 August 21 carnages.

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Dr Razzaque, also a presidium member of ruling Awami League, said the defeated and anti-liberation forces still want to bring back the trend of Pakistani regime in Bangladesh. So, it is essential to spread the healthy cultural practices among the people massively to counter the rise of anti-liberation forces and militants and fanatics, he said.

He said the first aggression against Bangalis was cultural one soon after the establishment of religion-based Pakistan as the country wanted to establish communal spirit by carrying out aggression on Bangla language, literature and culture. 

The minister said BNP established an anti-liberation force and spirit from August 1975 to 1996. The 1975-1996 is a black chapter of the history as the truth was distorted in a well-planned way, anti-liberation forces and communal spirits were established everywhere in the period, he added.

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Sayeda Rubina Akter Mira MP and AL relief and social welfare affairs secretary Sujit Roy Nandi, among others, spoke at the function presided over by Bangabandhu Sangskritik Jote President Falguni Hamid.