Bangladesh’s founding leader Sheikh Mujibur Rehman’s house was set on fire by thousands of protesters on Wednesday. Sheikh Hasina, the daughter of the former prime minister who was overthrown, spoke on social media, calling on her followers to oppose the interim administration.
An excavator and a crane were used to tear down the house while the group of several thousand protesters, some of whom were carrying sticks, hammers, and other tools, surrounded the location.
The “Bulldozer Procession” was a larger appeal that was coordinated alongside the rally with the goal of interfering with Hasina’s planned social media speech at 9 p.m.
Hasina’s address had angered protesters, many of whom were affiliated with the “Students Against Discrimination” group, who saw it as a challenge to the recently established interim administration.
Since Hasina was forced to flee to adjacent India in August 2024 due to widespread riots, tensions in Bangladesh have been rising.
As demonstrations and instability have persisted, the interim administration, headed by Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus, has found it difficult to stay in power. Symbols of Hasina’s administration have been targeted by protesters, including Sheikh Mujibur Rahman’s home, which was first burned down in August.
The house, where Bangabandhu, also known as the “friend of Bengal,” announced Bangladesh’s independence from Pakistan in 1971, is a symbol of the nation’s founding.
A national tragedy occurred there a few years later. In 1975, Mujibur Rahman was slain at the house together with the majority of his family. After surviving the assault, Hasina converted the structure into a museum honouring her father’s legacy.
“A building can be destroyed, but the history cannot. “History exacts its retribution,” Hasina stated during her Wednesday statement.
She accused the interim administration of taking power in an illegitimate way and urged the people of Bangladesh to resist.The student-led movement behind the protests has voiced plans to dismantle the country’s 1972 Constitution, which they argue embodies the legacy of her father’s rule.
