Jamaat-e-Islami chief and opposition leader Dr Shafiqur Rahman said the public would again build resistance if there were any attempt to establish new fascism. He made the remarks on Tuesday at an award ceremony for the “July Awakening Documentary Competition 2026,” organised by Islami Chhatra Shibir at the National Museum auditorium in Shahbagh, Dhaka. He described the July movement, which took place two years earlier, as a unique chapter in Bangladesh’s history.

Speakers at the event stressed preserving memories of the July movement, the sacrifices of martyrs, and presenting its history to new generations. Rahman praised Shibir’s month-long initiative to preserve those memories and said children and young people should learn this history. Jamaat Secretary General Professor Mia Golam Parwar said people in Bangladesh do not accept autocratic or repressive rule and would resist another effort to establish fascism.

Shibir central president Nurul Islam said the competition aimed to gather documents, memories and information from across the country and present them through documentaries. “Gramer Chokhe July” by Mahmud H M of Noakhali won first place, receiving Tk 200,000, a crest and certificate. Other prizes ranged from Tk 150,000 for second place to Tk 30,000 for fifth place.