ICT Initiatives Ignite Inclusion for July Movement Martyrs

Faiz Ahmad Taiyeb, Special Assistant in charge of the Ministry of Posts, Telecommunications and Information Technology, has announced that the ICT Division will support self-employment opportunities for the July movement fighters through digital training. He made the statement on Wednesday, July 16, at a seminar titled "Youth Power: Language Movement 1952 to Quota Reform Movement 2024," organized by the ICT Division at the BCC Auditorium in ICT Tower to observe "July Martyrs’ Day" and "July Mass Uprising Day."

In his keynote speech, Faiz Ahmad Taiyeb said, "Today is a day of sorrow for us. The young people who sacrificed their lives gave us dreams and new responsibilities, and we must understand how respectfully we have fulfilled those responsibilities. In many cases, we have not succeeded in the work we started over the past year; we must plan how to succeed in the future. Every day when I return home, I feel there is much work left undone. I feel ashamed to face the students," he emotionally added.

He continued, "We have not been able to do much for them through ICT, and that troubles me. In the coming months, we will strive to provide the injured from July with ICT skills to ensure them a promising future."

He also mentioned, "We have launched a platform called ‘Citizen Service,’ through which we have started providing harassment-free services in digital transformation."

Regarding the software parks established across Bangladesh, which currently stand as buildings without training or skill development programs, he stated, "We are working to initiate skill development programs there."

In his speech, ICT Secretary Sheesh Haider Chowdhury remarked, "Bengalis know how to die but not how to lose. We lost over two thousand people in the July movement, yet we have removed the barriers. Our progress has not diminished since August 5. There are conspiracies to divide anti-fascist parties and to use illegally acquired funds over the past fifteen years to succeed in these conspiracies. But we will not allow that."

Additional Secretary of the ICT Division, Md. Mamunur Rashid Bhuiyan, said, "We have seen that in critical times, the youth emerged as saviors and showed us the path of light. A vital slogan in the July movement was, ‘If you are afraid, you are finished; if you stand firm, you are Bangladesh.’ The elders could not stand firm; the youth stood up against injustice, oppression, and discrimination with their blood. If we fail to follow their footsteps, the souls of the martyrs will be pained."

July movement fighter and student representative Md. Abu Bakar Siddique stated, "The July movement was aimed at changing the fascist system." He appealed to the caretaker government to organize elections after justice and proper reforms.

Ahsan Yasir Sharar, a student of United International University, said, "We have yet to see justice for the killers. The police are still non-functional. Although private universities played a leading role in the movement, a 10 percent tax has been imposed on them, which he demands to be withdrawn."

The seminar’s keynote paper was presented by Professor Dr. M. Mejbah Uddin Sarkar of Jahangirnagar University’s Institute of Information Technology. Attendees included BCC Executive Director Dr. Md. Mehedi Hasan, officials from various departments under the ICT Division, and students injured in the movement.

The event began with one minute of silence in memory of the July martyrs. Prior to this, the newly established July Corner at the ICT Tower ground floor was inaugurated by the chief guest Faiz Ahmad Taiyeb.