Former law adviser Dr Asif Nazrul said the Liberation War is Bangladesh’s greatest achievement and the July mass uprising is independent Bangladesh’s most glorious heroic saga. In a Facebook post on Saturday night, he said there is no conflict between the two. He described the July uprising as a self-sacrificing struggle to fulfil the true aspirations of the Liberation War.

Nazrul referred to several violent incidents from December 17 and 18, 1971, citing a writing by Humayun Ahmed and an eyewitness account by Italian journalist Oriana Fallaci. He also said that some Awami League members and people claiming to be freedom fighters committed brutal acts in the country between 1972 and 1975.

He argued that individual wrongdoing did not erase the Liberation War’s significance, and said displaying the underwear of a deposed prime minister on August 8 was inappropriate and condemnable but did not end July. Nazrul called efforts to question July or pit it against the Liberation War unjust. He said those who treat the Liberation War as freedom for the Sheikh family and Awami League’s arbitrariness oppose both the Liberation War and July.