Health Minister Sardar Md Sakhawat Husain described the July Mass Uprising of 2024 as an outburst of long-suppressed public anger against autocratic rule.

He made the remarks on Wednesday afternoon while addressing a discussion organised at the conference room of the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare at the Secretariat to mark July Mass Uprising Day 2026.

Explaining the background of the July uprising, the minister said that, like the 1952 Language Movement, the 1969 Mass Uprising, the 1971 Liberation War, and the 1990 anti-autocracy movement, the July Mass Uprising represents another landmark achievement in the nation’s history.

“The July movement didn’t emerge overnight,” he said. “The public anger that had accumulated since 2009 due to repression, enforced disappearances, killings, corruption, money laundering and political persecution under the then fascist government erupted in July like a volcanic explosion.”

He said the way the country’s young people took to the streets and mounted resistance was a rare event in world history. “The nation will forever remember with profound respect the sacrifices and contributions of those who lost their eyes, hands or legs, or were martyred during the July uprising,” he added.

Outlining his ministry’s commitments, the health minister said the government was determined to build a corruption-free health ministry and that ensuring quality healthcare for ordinary people remained its foremost priority.

Urging the public to remain vigilant, he said that although the autocratic regime had fallen, its collaborators remained active in various ways. They were conspiring with the support of foreign hostile forces to undermine the country’s independence, sovereignty and existence, he added.

He noted that Bangladeshis are able to govern their own country and hold senior positions because the nation achieved independence, stressing that everyone must remain united to safeguard that independence.