Bangladesh: Sheikh Hasina’s ancestral home reduced to rubble by angry mob

Protesters in Bangladesh on Thursday, demolished the former residence of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the country’s founding father, after vandalizing and setting it on fire the night before.

Demonstrators also targeted homes of Awami League leaders and defaced murals of Mujibur Rahman following a live online address by ousted Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.

Thousands gathered on Wednesday outside Mujibur Rahman’s house in Dhaka’s Dhanmondi area, which had been converted into a memorial museum. The protest was organized under the banner of a "Bulldozer Procession," widely circulated on social media ahead of Hasina’s speech.

Shortly after, an excavator began tearing down the residence, and by Thursday morning, the demolition continued using heavy machinery.

According to The Daily Star, protesters also torched Hasina’s long-time residence, Sudha Sadan, on Wednesday night. The house had been vacated since Hasina was ousted on August 5.

Elsewhere in Dhaka, demonstrators set fire to the residence of deceased nuclear scientist Wajed Mian, which previously served as Hasina’s political office. Similar acts of destruction spread across Bangladesh, with the homes of Hasina’s relatives, including Sheikh Helal Uddin and Sheikh Salauddin Jewel in Khulna, also being demolished.

Crowds chanted slogans such as “Delhi or Dhaka — Dhaka, Dhaka” and “Down with Mujibism.”

Khulna Metropolitan Police official Ahsan Habib acknowledged reports of the incidents but stated, "I have seen the news of the incident on Facebook, but I don't have further information."

At Dhaka University, student protesters removed Mujibur Rahman’s name from the Bangabandhu Hall, while Awami League leaders’ homes in Kushtia and other regions were attacked.

In Chattogram, demonstrators staged a torch procession against Hasina’s speech before vandalizing murals of Mujib at Chittagong Medical College and Jamal Khan. Protests also erupted in Sylhet, Rangpur, and Mymensingh, where various Mujib murals were defaced or destroyed.

The violence escalated after Anti-Discrimination Students Movement leader Hasnat Abdullah posted on Facebook: "Tonight, Bangladesh will be liberated from the place of pilgrimage for fascism."

During her speech, Hasina urged supporters to resist the current regime, saying, “They are yet to have the strength to destroy the national flag, the constitution, and the independence that we earned at the cost of lives of millions of martyrs with a bulldozer.” She directly referred to Professor Muhammad Yunus’s interim government, which took power after her ousting.

Hasina continued, “They can demolish a building, but not the history... but they must also remember that history takes its revenge.”

In an emotional moment, Hasina compared the destruction to events during the 1971 Liberation War, stating, “Pakistani troops looted the house, but they did not demolish or set it on fire. Today, this house is being demolished. What crime had it committed? Why were they so afraid of the house? I seek justice from the people of the country. Didn’t I do anything for you?”

National Citizens' Committee leader Ali Ahsan Zonaed, a key figure in the student movement, marked the protests as a milestone, writing, “Today marks the completion of six months of the July Uprising. On this historic day, the butcher of Bengal, Hasina, decided to come out in public. What a day she has chosen! Now is the time for us to wake up again. Let’s eliminate all fascist elements on this historic day.”

Student activists previously vowed to scrap Bangladesh’s 1972 Constitution, calling it the "Mujibist constitution." Some far-right groups have also advocated for changing the national anthem, which was adopted under Mujib’s leadership.

Since fleeing Bangladesh on August 5, 2024, Hasina, now 77, has been living in India following her government’s collapse due to massive student-led protests.

While Mujibur Rahman is revered as an independence hero, anger toward Hasina’s rule has cast a shadow over his legacy. He and most of his family were assassinated in a military coup on August 15, 1975, while Hasina and her sister Rehana were abroad in Germany.