Mob demolishes Bangladesh founder Sheikh Mujibur Rahman’s home in Dhaka

The demolition followed a protest titled “Bulldozer March”, which was organised on Wednesday through messages posted on social media platforms such as Facebook

A massive mob, consisting mostly of students and youth activists, demolished the home of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the founding father of Bangladesh, in the heart of Dhaka on Thursday, and the arson and vandalism continued for hours without any effort by authorities to stop it.

Arson and vandalism at Sheikh Mujibur Rahman’s home continued for hours. (AP)

The demolition followed a protest titled “Bulldozer March”, which was organised on Wednesday through messages posted on social media platforms such as Facebook. The building, where Rahman was assassinated along with his wife, his brother, three sons, two daughters-in-law, and other relatives on August 15, 1975, was first set afire on Wednesday night before being fully demolished by Thursday morning.

Dhaka-based diplomats and other people familiar with the matter, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said such a massive protest could not have gone ahead without the tacit consent of the authorities. While most media outlets reported the demolition, there was no word on it from the state-run BSS news agency.

According to media reports, Hasnat Abdullah, convenor of the Anti-Discrimination Student Movement that led the protests that forced former premier Sheikh Hasina out of office last year, posted a message on Facebook at 7 pm on Wednesday that said: “Tonight, Bangladesh will be free from the shrine of fascism.”

Large numbers of people gathered outside the building by 8 pm on Wednesday. Members of the mob, armed with sticks and crowbars, broke the gates and stormed inside the compound. Shortly after 9 pm, the mob vandalised the building and set it ablaze. The demolition began at around 11.30 pm, and an hour earlier, a crane and a bulldozer were brought to the location.

Media reports said members of the mob climbed onto the crane, cheering and shouting slogans such as “Tear down Sheikh Mujib’s house, raze it to the ground”. Some members of the mob called for the execution of Hasina, who is in self-exile in India. The protest also coincided with the six-month anniversary of Hasina’s ouster after weeks of nationwide protests led by student groups.

Student activists and online campaigners, who led the protests against Hasina last year, said the demolition would begin when Hasina began delivering a speech online to her supporters on Wednesday night.

The developments reflected the deep polarisation within Bangladeshi politics since the ouster of Hasina, the daughter of Rahman, on August 5 last year and the subsequent formation of a caretaker administration led by Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus. Members of the interim government, especially student leaders, have spoken about shutting out Hasina’s Awami League from any upcoming election, while Yunus has given no clear timeframe for elections.

The people cited above listed a nationwide strike called by the Awami League on February 18 and a speech beamed on Facebook by Hasina as possible triggers for Wednesday’s protest outside Rahman’s residence at 32, Dhanmondi, an upscale neighbourhood in central Dhaka.

The strike called by the Awami League is meant to be the culmination of protests and programmes being organised by the party as part of efforts to rebuild itself after being in disarray since Hasina stepped down and fled to India. Hasina’s hour-long speech, which she delivered on Wednesday, largely focused on what she and the Awami League had done for Bangladesh over the past decades.

Authorities have filed dozens of criminal and other cases against Hasina and other Awami League leaders since last August, and the interim government recently sought her extradition from India. New Delhi has not responded to the extradition request, with officials saying that the Bangladeshi side is yet to complete several legal formalities.

Following Rahman’s assassination by army personnel at 32 Dhanmondi, the residence was converted into a memorial museum. After the overthrow of the Awami League government last August, protesters ransacked and set fire to the house.