National Students’ Power, the student wing of the National Citizen Party, has demanded that the July Mass Uprising Memorial Museum be developed into an inclusive repository of sacrifices from people across the country. In a statement sent by its general secretary Abu Bakar Majumdar on Sunday, the group said the museum risks becoming an account of a specific political party’s history.

The organisation described the 2024 July mass uprising as a universal awakening of students and the public against fascism. It said the museum was meant to document repression during the previous 15 years of authoritarian rule while preserving the universal memories of the uprising. However, it alleged that no significant memory of the movement’s main platform, the Anti-Discrimination Student Movement, has been retained there.

National Students’ Power also alleged that memorial items related to killings at the Indian border and the anti-Modi movement were removed. It said the museum largely presents Dhaka-centred events while overlooking contributions and memories from districts and marginal areas, as well as distinctive programme names that inspired the Gen-Z generation. The group urged that the museum not be used for narrow partisan interests.