Home Minister Salahuddin Ahmed said Mir Kashem Ali was his friend and that they served time together in Kashimpur prison. Speaking on Wednesday afternoon at a reception and discussion for July martyrs’ families and July fighters at China Friendship Conference Center in Sher-e-Bangla Nagar, Dhaka, he said Ali had told him he returned to the country because otherwise his son would be taken away.

Ahmed said he listened attentively to people who voiced protests at the event and acknowledged those who coordinated the July movement from the front and behind the scenes. He said much of the field leadership was in prison, disappeared or in hiding at the time. He also said the movement might have been organized more effectively if the prime minister had not been in exile for a long period.

Recalling his own detention, Ahmed said he spent 61 days in Aynaghar and that a person could not remain there even for 24 hours. He said authoritarian rule had destroyed not only individuals but also families, urging unity based on those experiences. He said the July uprising resulted from long preparation, sacrifice and struggle, and should never be turned into a partisan matter.