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 convener of the movement in his social media post announced the programme named "Bulldozer Procession” and the protesters 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.

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