Bangladesh ex-PM Palace Becomes Revolution Museum
Photographs of jubilant flag-waving crowds clambering onto the rooftop of the Dhaka palace after Hasina fled by helicopter to India were a defining image of the culmination of student-led protests that toppled her government on August 5, 2024.
One year later, with the South Asian nation of around 170 million people still in political turmoil, the authorities hope the sprawling Ganabhaban palace offers a message to the future, AFP said.
Graffiti daubed on the walls condemning her regime remains untouched.
"Freedom", one message reads. "We want justice."
Hasina's rule saw widespread human rights abuses, including the mass detention and extrajudicial killings of her political opponents.
Up to 1,400 people were killed between July and August 2024 in her failed bid to cling to power, according to the United Nations.
The 77-year-old has defied court orders to attend her ongoing trial on charges amounting to crimes against humanity in Dhaka, accusations she denies.
"Dictator", another message reads, among scores being protected for posterity. "Killer Hasina".
Muhammad Yunus, the 85-year-old Nobel Peace Prize winner who is leading the caretaker government until elections are held in early 2026, said the conversion to a museum would "preserve memories of her misrule and the people's anger when they removed her from power".
'Symbol of fascism'
Mosfiqur Rahman Johan, 27, a rights activist and documentary photographer, was one of the thousands who stormed the luxurious palace, when crowds danced in her bedroom, feasted on food from the kitchens, and swam in the lake Hasina used to fish in.
"It will visualize and symbolize the past trauma, the past suffering -- and also the resistance," he said.
"Ganabhaban is a symbol of fascism, the symbol of an autocratic regime".
The complex was built by Hasina's father, the first leader of Bangladesh, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, and Hasina made it her official residence during her 15 years in power.
Tanzim Wahab, the curator of the under-construction museum, told AFP that exhibits would include artefacts of the protesters killed.
Their life stories will be told through films and photographs, while plaques will host the names of the people killed by the security forces during the longer period of Hasina's rule.
"The museum's deeper purpose is retrospective, looking back at the long years of misrule and oppression", said Wahab.
"That, I believe, is one of the most important aspects of this project."
Wahab said the museum would include animation and interactive installations, as well as documenting the tiny cells where Hasina's opponents were detained in suffocating conditions.
"We want young people... to use it as a platform for discussing democratic ideas, new thinking, and how to build a new Bangladesh," Wahab said.
'Statues of dictatorship'
That chimes with the promised bolstering of democratic institutions that interim leader Yunus wants to ensure before elections -- efforts slowed as political parties jostle for power.
The challenges he faces are immense, warned Human Rights Watch ahead of the one-year anniversary of the revolution.
"The interim government appears stuck, juggling an unreformed security sector, sometimes violent religious hardliners, and political groups that seem more focused on extracting vengeance on Hasina's supporters than protecting Bangladeshis' rights," HRW said.
But while Hasina's palace is being preserved, protesters have torn down many other visible signs of her rule.
Statues of Hasina's father were toppled, and portraits of the duo torn and torched.
Protesters even used digger excavators to smash down the home of the late Sheikh Mujibur Rahman -- that Hasina had turned into a museum to her father.
Muhibullah Al Mashnun, who was among the crowds that tore down the house believes that removing such symbols was necessary for Bangladesh to move forward to a better future.
"They were the statues of dictatorship," Mashnun said.
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Arab News
an hour ago
- Arab News
Bangladesh witnesses detail violence in ex-PM trial
DHAKA: Witnesses in the trial of Bangladesh's fugitive ex-Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Monday detailed horrific violence and denial of medical treatment, speaking on the eve of the anniversary of her ouster. Hasina, 77, fled Bangladesh by helicopter on Aug. 5, 2024, after weeks of student-led protests against her rule. She has defied court orders to return from India to attend her trial on charges amounting to crimes against humanity, over the deadly crackdown on the uprising. Up to 1,400 people were killed between July and August 2024, according to the UN. • Sheikh Hasina, 77, fled Bangladesh by helicopter on Aug. 5, 2024, after weeks of student-led protests against her rule. • She has defied court orders to return from India to attend her trial on charges amounting to crimes against humanity. Philosophy student Abdullah Al-Imran, 25, said his left leg had been blasted 'wide open' by gunshot during the protests, describing how it had been left 'barely attached to the rest of my body by a thin layer of skin.' Imran told the court how, when Hasina visited the hospital ward where he was recovering, he told her he had been shot by the police. He said he overheard Hasina give the order of 'no release, no treatment,' referring to injured protesters. 'I didn't understand the meaning of the order at first, but later I did — as my surgery was repeatedly delayed,' Imran said, adding he was not given the right antibiotics, and his parents were blocked from moving him to a private hospital. 'My leg started to rot,' he said, and showed the court his still bandaged leg. Prosecutors have filed five charges against Hasina — including failure to prevent mass murder — which amount to crimes against humanity under Bangladeshi law. Hasina is on trial in absentia alongside two other accused, her former Interior Minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal, also a fugitive, and ex-police chief Chowdhury Abdullah Al-Mamun, who is in custody and has pleaded guilty. Hasina is defended by a state-appointed lawyer, but she has refused to accept the authority of the court. Another witness on Monday described how she was blinded in one eye when police fired at close range, the third to give evidence detailing the brutality of the crackdown. The trial continues, although no hearing will be held on Tuesday, which has been declared a public holiday to mark the one-year anniversary of Hasina's downfall. Mohammed Yunus, the 85-year-old Nobel Peace Prize winner leading the caretaker government, is due to release a slate of democratic overhauls.
Asharq Al-Awsat
8 hours ago
- Asharq Al-Awsat
Bangladesh ex-PM Palace Becomes Revolution Museum
Once a heavily guarded palace, the former official residence of Bangladesh's ousted prime minister Sheikh Hasina is being turned into a museum as a lasting reminder of her autocratic rule. Photographs of jubilant flag-waving crowds clambering onto the rooftop of the Dhaka palace after Hasina fled by helicopter to India were a defining image of the culmination of student-led protests that toppled her government on August 5, 2024. One year later, with the South Asian nation of around 170 million people still in political turmoil, the authorities hope the sprawling Ganabhaban palace offers a message to the future, AFP said. Graffiti daubed on the walls condemning her regime remains untouched. "Freedom", one message reads. "We want justice." Hasina's rule saw widespread human rights abuses, including the mass detention and extrajudicial killings of her political opponents. Up to 1,400 people were killed between July and August 2024 in her failed bid to cling to power, according to the United Nations. The 77-year-old has defied court orders to attend her ongoing trial on charges amounting to crimes against humanity in Dhaka, accusations she denies. "Dictator", another message reads, among scores being protected for posterity. "Killer Hasina". Muhammad Yunus, the 85-year-old Nobel Peace Prize winner who is leading the caretaker government until elections are held in early 2026, said the conversion to a museum would "preserve memories of her misrule and the people's anger when they removed her from power". 'Symbol of fascism' Mosfiqur Rahman Johan, 27, a rights activist and documentary photographer, was one of the thousands who stormed the luxurious palace, when crowds danced in her bedroom, feasted on food from the kitchens, and swam in the lake Hasina used to fish in. "It will visualize and symbolize the past trauma, the past suffering -- and also the resistance," he said. "Ganabhaban is a symbol of fascism, the symbol of an autocratic regime". The complex was built by Hasina's father, the first leader of Bangladesh, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, and Hasina made it her official residence during her 15 years in power. Tanzim Wahab, the curator of the under-construction museum, told AFP that exhibits would include artefacts of the protesters killed. Their life stories will be told through films and photographs, while plaques will host the names of the people killed by the security forces during the longer period of Hasina's rule. "The museum's deeper purpose is retrospective, looking back at the long years of misrule and oppression", said Wahab. "That, I believe, is one of the most important aspects of this project." Wahab said the museum would include animation and interactive installations, as well as documenting the tiny cells where Hasina's opponents were detained in suffocating conditions. "We want young people... to use it as a platform for discussing democratic ideas, new thinking, and how to build a new Bangladesh," Wahab said. 'Statues of dictatorship' That chimes with the promised bolstering of democratic institutions that interim leader Yunus wants to ensure before elections -- efforts slowed as political parties jostle for power. The challenges he faces are immense, warned Human Rights Watch ahead of the one-year anniversary of the revolution. "The interim government appears stuck, juggling an unreformed security sector, sometimes violent religious hardliners, and political groups that seem more focused on extracting vengeance on Hasina's supporters than protecting Bangladeshis' rights," HRW said. But while Hasina's palace is being preserved, protesters have torn down many other visible signs of her rule. Statues of Hasina's father were toppled, and portraits of the duo torn and torched. Protesters even used digger excavators to smash down the home of the late Sheikh Mujibur Rahman -- that Hasina had turned into a museum to her father. Muhibullah Al Mashnun, who was among the crowds that tore down the house believes that removing such symbols was necessary for Bangladesh to move forward to a better future. "They were the statues of dictatorship," Mashnun said.
Arab News
15 hours ago
- Arab News
A year after a bloody uprising, Bangladesh is far from political stability
DHAKA: Abdur Rahman Tarif was talking to his sister Meherunnesa over the phone when the voice on the other end of the call suddenly fell that moment, Tarif knew something bad had happened. He rushed home, dodging the exchange of fire between security forces and protesters on the streets of Dhaka. When he finally arrived, he discovered his parents tending to his bleeding sister.A stray bullet had hit Meherunnesa's chest while she was standing beside the window of her room, Tarif said. She was taken to a hospital where doctors declared her 23, was killed on Aug. 5 last year, the same day Bangladesh's former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina was forced to flee the country in a massive student-led uprising, which ended her 15-year rule. For much of Bangladesh, Hasina's ouster was a moment of joy. Three days later, Nobel Peace Prize laureate Muhammad Yunus took over the country as head of an interim government, promising to restore order and hold a new election after necessary reforms.A year on, Bangladesh is still reeling from that violence, and Hasina now faces trial for crimes against humanity, in absentia as she is in exile in India. But despite the bloodshed and lives lost, many say the prospect for a better Bangladesh with a liberal democracy, political tolerance and religious and communal harmony has remained a challenge.'The hope of the thousands who braved lethal violence a year ago when they opposed Sheikh Hasina's abusive rule to build a rights-respecting democracy remains unfulfilled,' said Meenakshi Ganguly, deputy Asia director at Human Rights Watch, a New York-based human rights changeBangladesh's anti-government movement exacted a heavy price. Hundreds of people, mostly students, were killed in violent protests. Angry demonstrators torched police stations and government buildings. Political opponents often clashed with each other, sometimes leading to gruesome many Bangladeshis, Tarif and his sister took part in the uprising, hoping for a broader political change, particularly after when one of their cousins was shot and killed by security forces.'We could not stay home and wanted Sheikh Hasina to go,' 20-year-old Tarif said. 'Ultimately we wanted a country without any discrimination and injustice.'Today, his hopes lie shattered. 'We wanted a change, but I am frustrated now,' he taking the reins, the Yunus-led administration formed 11 reform commissions, including a national consensus commission that is working with major political parties for future governments and the electoral political parties have failed to reach a consensus on a timetable and process for elections. Mob violence, political attacks on rival parties and groups, and hostility to women's rights and vulnerable minority groups by religious hard-liners have all of the fear and repression that marked Hasina's rule, and abuses such as widespread enforced disappearances, appear to have ended, rights groups say. However, they accuse the new government of using arbitrary detention to target perceived political opponents, especially Hasina's supporters, many of whom have been forced to go into Awami League party, which remains banned, says more than two dozen of its supporters have died in custody over the last one Rights Watch in a statement on July 30 said the interim government 'is falling short in implementing its challenging human rights agenda.' It said violations against ethnic and other minority groups in some parts of Bangladesh have continued.'The interim government appears stuck, juggling an unreformed security sector, sometimes violent religious hard-liners, and political groups that seem more focused on extracting vengeance on Hasina's supporters than protecting Bangladeshis' rights,' said office routinely rejects these political uncertaintyBangladesh also faces political uncertainty over a return to democratically held has been at loggerheads with the Bangladesh Nationalist Party, or BNP, now the main contender for power. The party headed by former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia has demanded elections either in December or February next year. Yunus has said they could be held in interim government has also cleared the way for the Islamists, who were under severe pressure during Hasina's regime, to rise, while the student leaders who spearheaded the uprising have formed a new political party. The students' party demands that the constitution be rewritten, if needed entirely, and says it won't allow the election without major many hard-line Islamists have either fled prison or have been released, and the Jamaat-e-Islami, the country's largest Islamist party, which has a controversial past, is now aspiring to a role in government. It often bitterly criticizes the BNP, equating it with Hasina's Awami League, and recently held a massive rally in Dhaka as a show of power. Critics fear that greater influence of the Islamist forces could fragment Bangladesh's political landscape further.'Any rise of Islamists demonstrates a future Bangladesh where radicalization could get a shape where so-called disciplined Islamist forces could work as a catalyst against liberal and moderate forces,' political analyst Nazmul Ahsan Kalimullah also remain over whether the government is ultimately capable of enacting reforms.'People's expectation was (that) Yunus government will be focused and solely geared toward reforming the electoral process. But now it's a missed opportunity for them,' Kalimullah said.A frustrated populationFor some, not much has changed in the last father, Mosharraf Hossain, said the uprising was not for a mere change in government, but symbolized deeper frustrations. 'We want a new Bangladesh … It's been 54 years since independence, yet freedom was not achieved,' he echoed his father's remarks, adding that he was not happy with the current state of the country.'I want to see the new Bangladesh as a place where I feel secure, where the law enforcement agencies will perform their duties properly, and no government will resort to enforced disappearances or killings like before. I want to have the right to speak freely,' he said.
