Why was Bangladesh founding father's house set ablaze by protesters?

The former residence of Bangladesh’s founding father, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, was set ablaze by scores of protesters on Wednesday.

Protesters, including those from the Anti-discrimination Student Movement, carried out vandalism and set on fire parts of the residence-turned-museum soon after Rahman's daughter, former prime minister Sheikh Hasina, announced on Tuesday that she would virtually address the nation the next day.

Details of the time of her virtual event were announced by the now-banned Chhatra League, the student wing of Hasina's Awami League party, The Daily Star reported.

Within hours of the announcement, events and posters started popping up on Facebook groups, asking for people to gather to protest. Others asked people to bring their own bulldozers. Dhanmondi 32, the address of the museum, had been a key political center for the Awami League party and Hasina, who was ousted from her 15-year-long rule last August after a student-led uprising.

Closer to the time of her address, the country descended into chaos and protesters marched towards Bangabandhu Memorial Museum to destroy it brick by brick.

According to The Daily Star, a Facebook event titled "Bulldozer Procession" was scheduled for 9pm – the same time as Hasina’s virtual speech from India was scheduled to be held. However, an hour before the scheduled event, protesters broke into the residence and started tearing apart the historic house (and the independence monument) with sticks, shovels, hammers and other tools. A mural of Rahman at the museum was also destroyed. By 9:30pm, the property was on fire.

Closer to midnight, a crane and excavator were found at the residence. By 2am, parts of the house had been razed to the ground.

Protesters also set fire to Sudha Sadan, the Dhanmondi residence of Hasina’s late husband and nuclear scientist, MA Wazed Miah, that same night.

Hasnat Abdullah, the key coordinator of the Anti-discrimination Student Movement on Facebook, posted, “Tonight, Bangladesh will be free from the pilgrimage site of fascism.”

On Wednesday morning, The Daily Star reported: “The excavators left the scene by 10:30am, leaving the Dhanmondi 32 house of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman to be torn apart by hands.”

Following this, the protesters started demolishing the building behind the residence, which had an art gallery and was an extension of the museum. Several Awami League offices, which were located adjacent to Rahman's house, were also demolished. By noon, The Daily Star claimed, “Most of the inner walls had been torn down but the structure remained. They primarily focused on tearing out the pipes and other metal fittings, which have resale value. The rest of the rubble remained untouched.”

The address

In her address, Hasina said: "Demolishing a building can only destroy a structure but couldn't erase the history. History can retaliate as we see in the past."

Hasina called the transitional set-up "illegal and unconstitutional". She reminded the people of Bangladesh about her father’s work and sacrifices – from fighting for their right to speak their mother tongue to gaining an independent homeland and his assassination.

She said that her father had built Bangladesh from the Dhanmondi residence, where he announced that they were now independent. She said her father chose to live and work from this house.

According to Hasina, this small house was the same that her mother had built with great difficulty, “with every brick in her own hands”. She added that this was the same house that her father and family were killed in while she and her sister, Rehana, survived by sheer chance.

She also talked about the significance of the Chhatra League – a student wing of the Awami League, founded by her father in his university days.

Friend of Bengal

Bangladesh gained independence from Pakistan in 1971 under Rahman's leadership. Rahman’s house, Dhanmondi 32, became a monument of the country’s independence. Hasina turned her father’s house into the Bangabandhu Museum. Bangabandhu, which means "friend of Bengal" – was an honorific given to Rahman.

The property is also the site of a national tragedy. In 1975, Rahman and most of his family members were assassinated at home. Hasina was the only survivor.