He made these remarks at the unveiling ceremony of the publication titled 'July of Breaking Shackles' of the Department of Information (PID) in the conference room of the Department of Information at the Secretariat today (Thursday).
State Minister for Information and Broadcasting Yasir Khan Chowdhury was present at the event.
The information minister said Bangladesh has had to repeatedly launch struggles to break shackles even more than five decades after independence, because attempts have been made again and again to suppress people's voices. As a result, the country's normal progress and the continuity of socio-economic prosperity have been disrupted, and every time the people have had to break those shackles at the cost of blood, lives and sacrifice.
Giving examples of many countries in the world becoming global powers through sustained development, the information minister said Bangladesh's desired pace of development has been hampered because democratic progress was repeatedly obstructed.
The information minister said through this breaking of shackles, an initiative has been taken not only to wake up anew, but also to build a strong institutional framework so that no one can impose shackles on the people again.
He said, a major feature of this shackle-breaking movement is that our leader Tarique Rahman has already told us through his 31-point agenda what we will do after breaking the shackles. We are moving forward with that goal.
Jahir Uddin Swapan said, just as we have been able to break the shackles, we are unwaveringly determined to establish a shackle-free democratic state system.
State Minister for Information and Broadcasting Yasir Khan Chowdhury said, 'July of Breaking Shackles' is not just a publication; it is an important document of the history of the July movement, sacrifice and the struggle to re-establish democracy. He said the compilation includes reminiscences, analyses and photographs of cabinet members, advisers to the Prime Minister and other responsible personalities, which will be considered valuable documents for future generations.
The state minister further said more publications, documentaries and digital content are being produced about the July movement at the initiative of the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting and its subordinate departments and agencies. Through these initiatives, the true history of the movement will be presented to the new generation.
Among others, the event was attended by Secretary (Routine Duty) of the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting Md Shah Alam, Additional Secretary K M Abdul Wadud, Chief Information Officer Syed Abdal Ahmed, media representatives and officials of the ministry.
