Nahid Islam. Photo: Collected The memorial service for those killed in the
student-public movement, which was scheduled to take place on Saturday
(September 14), will not be held as planned. Interim government's Information
and Broadcasting Advisor Nahid Islam has stated that the service will be
conducted once the list of the deceased is finalized.
On Thursday (September
12) afternoon, during a press conference at the Ministry of Information and
Broadcasting in the Secretariat, Nahid Islam provided this information. He
stated, "Since preparing the list is ongoing, the memorial service
scheduled for September 14 will not occur. Once the list is finalized, the
service will be organized based on that. So far, we have received a list from
the Ministry of Health showing 728 martyrs and 20,263 injured individuals.
Efforts are being made to locate their addresses and contact their families."
Nahid Islam said,
"According to various private sources, there is a list of 800 martyrs
whose authenticity is being verified. District administrators have also been
instructed to prepare lists. We might receive a finalized list by next Sunday,
after which a decision will be made regarding the memorial service."
The proposal for the
memorial service was approved in a cabinet meeting last Tuesday. Following the
meeting, Economic Advisor Saleh Uddin Ahmed announced that it would cost over BDT
5 crore. Subsequently, many people raised questions about the justification of
this expenditure.
When asked about this,
Nahid Islam said, "There has been some discussion about the budget for the
memorial service. There is criticism on social media. While BDT 5 crore has
been approved, the actual expenditure will be lower. The majority of the cost
will go towards bringing the family members of the martyrs from the 64
districts and arranging their stay in Dhaka for one night." He added,
"There will be no decorations or provisions for additional expenses. This
is a state event."
