Bangladesh founding leader´s house operating as museum razed

Agitated mob demolished the residence of Bangladesh’s founding leader Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, housing the Bangabandhu Memorial Museum in Dhaka late Wednesday night, local media reported.

The attackers led by the anti-discrimination student movement forcibly entered the premises of the house after breaking open the gate and began the destructive rampage.

Earlier in the day, the convenor of the movement in his social media post announced the programme named "Bulldozer Procession” and the unruly people engaged in widespread vandalism from the evening.

Witnesses said that a bulldozer, arriving at the spot midnight past Wednesday, started felling trees and razing the historic building to the ground, reported New Age, a leading English language daily published from Dhaka.

Before the arrival of the bulldozer, the agitators were seen to fetch a private company crane at the site, the New Age added.

Many of the assailants climbed to the second floor of the house, using hammers, crowbars, and wooden planks to destroy portraits of the late leader and other sections of the house.

The law enforcing agency, however, did not take necessary measures to save the historic museum on Bangladesh liberation war, although the rampage programme was announced previously.

The anti-discrimination student movement led the agitation movement in July 2024 to oust the Awami League government led by former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and formed the present interim government under the leadership of Nobel laureate Professor Muhammad Yunus.

Leaders and activists of several organisations including religious fundamentalist groups and anti-liberation forces participated in the vandalism.

People including progressive and pro-liberation forces condemned the vandalism and held the Yunus-led government responsible for this.

“The so called student organisation under the patronisation of the interim government demolished the historic building to fulfil their ill motive to remove the sign of our liberation war,” said a freedom fighter.

Activists of extremist organisations, religious fundamentalists and anti-liberation forces conducted the vandalism, he said.

The Pakistani army, which killed about 3 million people in Bangladesh during the Liberation war in 1971 expressed joy after demolishing the historic building by the pro-interim government demonstrators under the banner of students.

“This is the residence of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. The Two Nation Theory remains alive,” Defence Pakistan wrote in post on its social media platform X along with a photo of the vandalism.

“Bangladeshi revolutionaries have demolished Sheikh Mujibur Rahman’s house in Dhanmondi-32, the very place where he conspired with India to break Pakistan,” it wrote in another post.

The Pakistani occupation forces arrested Father of the Nation of Bangladesh Sheikh Mujibur Rahman from this house on March 25, 1971 and conducted genocide in the country during the Bangladesh´s Liberation War, which lasted for nine months.

Following the collapse of the Awami League government on August 5, violent people had previously attacked the house, causing destruction and setting parts of it on fire.

The agitated mob killed several hundreds of people including members of the law enforcing agencies in Bangladesh after collapse of the Awami League government.

They also demolished various sculptures including Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and attacked the religious and ethnic minorities.