Thousands of protesters have demolished and set fire to the family house of ousted Bangladeshi Prime Minister, Sheikh Hasina.
The attack was prompted by a speech Hasina planned to give to supporters from exile in neighbouring India, where she fled last August after a deadly student-led uprising against her 15-year rule. Critics had accused her of suppressing dissent.
The house in the capital, Dhaka, had been home to Hasina’s late father, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, who led the country’s independence from Pakistan in 1971.
He was assassinated there in 1975.
Hasina later turned the home into a museum.
According to news reports, several thousand protesters, some armed with sticks, hammers and other tools, gathered around the historic house and independence monument.
The country’s leading English-language Daily Star reported early on Thursday that a wave of attacks overnight also targeted several houses and businesses belonging to Hasina’s Awami League supporters.
The rally was organised alongside a broader call, dubbed “Bulldozer Procession,” to disrupt Hasina’s scheduled online address.
Protesters, many aligned with the Students Against Discrimination group, had expressed their fury over Hasina’s speech, which they viewed as a challenge to the newly formed interim government.
As Hasina began speaking, protesters stormed the house and started dismantling the brick walls, later bringing a crane and an excavator to demolish the building.
The protesters also chanted slogans criticising India, where Hasina has lived in exile since fleeing Bangladesh last August.
An interim government in Bangladesh led by Nobel Peace Prize laureate, Muhammad Yunus has sought Hasina’s extradition but India has not responded.
Many of the protesters also chanted slogans demanding Hasina’s execution for hundreds of deaths during last year’s uprising against her, one of the country’s worst upheavals since independence. Hasina has urged a United Nations investigation into the deaths.
The ousted Prime Minister has also been accused of overseeing extrajudicial killings and suppressing opposition voices during her 15-year rule.
Hasina Criticizes Attack On Family House
Hasina criticised the attack on her father Sheikh Mujibur Rahman’s residence in Dhaka.
Hasina said in response during her speech, even as the demolition continued, “They do not have the power to destroy the country’s independence with bulldozers.” She added, “They may destroy a building, but they won’t be able to erase the history.”
She also called on the people of Bangladesh to resist the country’s new leaders and alleged that they took power by “unconstitutional” means.
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
She questioned the reason behind the attack on the 32 Dhanmondi residence, which is a key symbol in Bangladesh’s fight for independence.
“Why fear a house? I seek justice from the people of Bangladesh. Have I not done anything for my country? Then, why such disrespect? The only memory that both my sister and I have clung to is being wiped out. A structure can be erased, but history cannot be wiped out.”
Sheikh Hasina
During her speech, Hasina reflected on previous assassination attempts and remarked, “If Allah has kept me alive through all these attacks, there must be some work left for me. Otherwise, how could I have escaped death so many times?”
She also accused Yunus of orchestrating a plan to eliminate her and her family, saying, “The meticulous plan by Muhammad Yunus this time was to kill me and my sister.”
Hasina’s Awami League political party is trying to gain support amid allegations of attacks on its members and other Hasina backers.
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