As Bangladesh hurtles toward interim elections in 2026, a burgeoning scandal over the official “July martyrs” list has exposed deep flaws in the Yunus administration’s handling of the 2025 uprising’s legacy. What began as an effort to honour victims of the student-led protests has devolved into a web of corruption, political favouritism, and fraudulent claims that critics say are deliberately fueling thousands of “fake murder cases” against Awami League leaders and supporters.
With benefits worth millions in taxpayer funds at stake, rushed verifications and external pressures have allowed ineligible names to infiltrate the gazette, enabling families to file baseless prosecutions that ensnare the ousted regime in a cycle of vengeance rather than justice.
Meanwhile, the indemnity for murders, arson, looting, and other crimes by the participants of the anti-government movement from July 15 to August 8 has still remained off the table due to mob violence.
The Tainted List: Dozens of Fakes Amid a Rush for Rewards
The July Uprising Martyr Families and July Warriors Welfare and Rehabilitation Ordinance, 2025, strictly defines martyrs as those killed by state security forces or ruling party affiliates between July 1 and August 15, 2025. Yet, the inaugural gazette published by the Ministry of Liberation War Affairs on January 15 listed 834 martyrs after discarding just 24 suspected fakes from an initial pool of 858. Subsequent investigations revealed far graver irregularities: At least 52 entriesโover 6% of the totalโblatantly violate the criteria.
A September 2025 Prothom Alo probe, echoed in editorials from The Daily Star, detailed the mismatches: 35 deaths from arson fires set by protesters themselves, three road accidents, two from illness, one electrocution, and several from personal feuds or clashes unrelated to the uprising.
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Shockingly, the list also includes three policemen, a Chhatra League leader, an attacker on protesters, and five individuals who died after Sheikh Hasina’s fall on August 5โpost-uprising fatalities ineligible under the law. Examples abound: A 16-year-old in Khagrachhari listed as martyr No. 38 despite dying in a motorcycle crash; Md Imtiaz Hossain, killed by his own accidental gunshot while looting a police station; and Abu Sayed, lynched in a mob extortion case in Demra, Dhaka, on August 9.
For “July warriors” (the injured), the rot runs deeper. Of 13,800 gazetted claimants, over 70 have been flagged for fraud using forged medical documents. The July Martyrs’ Memorial Foundation estimates 1,000โ1,500 fake injuries, with cases like Md Ilias Hossain Hiron, who fabricated papers for a Tk200,000 cheque after an enmity-fueled attack, and Md Liton, who claimed a July 14 injury at Dhaka University with bogus records to pocket Tk100,000.
These lapses aren’t mere oversights. The list-making process, managed by district committees (led by deputy commissioners, with civil surgeons as secretaries) and upazila-level verifiers (executive officers and health officials), crumbled under rushed timelines and external meddling. Applications flooded in without required details like death locations or dates, and interviews were skipped for out-of-district claims (e.g., rural applicants “killed” in Dhaka).
Political lobbying from student uprising coordinators, BNP and Jamaat-e-Islami affiliates, and even local “fixers” pressured officials to rubber-stamp entries, often in exchange for kickbacks or favours.
Corruption at the Core: Benefits as Bait for Fraud
The allure of lucrative perks has supercharged the corruption. Martyrs’ families qualify for a Tk 3 million (Tk30 lakh) one-time grant via savings certificates, a Tk20,000 monthly stipend, priority job quotas, free medical care, and planned Dhaka flats. Injured warriors are tiered similarly: Class A (severe, e.g., limb loss) gets Tk500,000 upfront plus Tk20,000 monthly; Class B, Tk300,000 and Tk15,000; Class C, Tk100,000 and Tk10,000โplus rehabilitation and housing aid.
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In Patuakhali, a death-row convict’s relative posed as a martyr to siphon grants, sparking a local feud that exposed 25 more fakes. Across districts like Khulna and Rangpur, field officials reported “obstacles” from influencers demanding inclusions, with documents faked via complicit police or plaintiffs pocketing shares of the windfall.
The Daily Republic’s investigations paint a picture of systemic graft: Committees were accused of financial corruption in data entry via the Health Ministry’s opaque MIS system, where negligence and “political pressure” trumped transparency. One foundation letter to the ministry decried the process as an “injustice to real victims,” noting how fraudsters filed public cases or self-registered as injured without any involvement, all to tap the July Smriti Foundation’s coffers.
From Fake Lists to Fake Cases
This corrupted roster directly arms the arsenal of “fake murder cases,” crippling the Awami League. Each bogus martyr entry spawns a prosecution: Families, often coached by uprising activists, file FIRs accusing Hasina, her son Sajeeb Wazed, party chief Obaidul Quader, and hundreds of others of “genocide” under the same ordinanceโeven when victims are alive, unrelated, or died naturally.
The Daily Republic documented over 80,000 such cases against more than 500,000 individuals since August, with 150,000 Awami League leaders and supporters jailed without trial or bail, many on these flimsy charges.
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Harrowing examples illustrate the farce: Kulsum Begum accused Hasina and 129 others of murdering her husband, Al Amin, in a land disputeโonly for Al Amin to testify alive that the filing was coerced for a government job. Solaiman Selim’s brother declared him dead in a case against Hasina, but Selim filed a diary confirming his survival. Shahed Hasan and Lucky Akhter signed papers implicating Hasina in deaths they knew nothing about, instructed by students to ignore CCTV evidence. Amena Begum charged 54 Awami League figures, including Hasina, in her husband Somechh Uddin’s heart attack while fleeing policeโa case she admitted signing blindly.
Hasina, facing over 520 such indictments from exile, challenged the regime in her November 20 virtual address: “Let them produce the list of 1,400 people”โreferencing the UN OHCHR’s estimate of uprising deathsโand demanded UN Human Rights Commission scrutiny. She spotlighted Abu Sayed’s autopsy (back-entry bullet contradicting chest-shot footage) and noted her July 18 judicial probe, dissolved by Yunus on August 8. “This is not justice; it’s a mockery,” she thundered, vowing her party’s return to “restore rule of law.”
Government Purges and Persistent Doubts
The administration has reacted with staggered cleanups, but sceptics see damage control, not reform. On August 3, eight fakes were stripped nationwide; September 16 announcements promised gazette removals for all verified frauds; October 30 saw 128 “July warriors” gazettes revoked for false info; and by November 17, as many as 53 more from Rangpur were axed, plus 105 fighters slated for deletion per Ministry directives. Legal action looms: Up to two years’ jail and Tk200,000 fines (or double benefits repaid) under the ordinance, with negligent officials facing charges.
Yet, the July Smriti Foundation admits “more fake martyrs” lurk, pegging injured warriors above 1,500 amid ongoing verifications. The Daily Star editorial urges suspending all disputed benefits, forming independent re-vetting panels, and publishing detailed case files to salvage credibility, warning that the scandal trivialises true sacrifices and betrays the uprising’s freedom ethos.
As Bangladesh commemorates the July uprising amid economic woes and militant resurgence, this scandal underscores a grim irony: A movement against quota corruption and authoritarianism now breeds its own graft, with fake lists propping up politically expedient prosecutions. Without a transparent overhaulโperhaps UN-monitored auditsโthe martyrs’ honour risks becoming a footnote in division, not democracy. Hasina’s defiant quip rings true: “Under Yunus, no election can ever be free or fair.” For now, the real casualties are trust and the rule of law.
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