An emotional Sheikh Hasina sent out a voice message to her supporters in Bangladesh, stating that her survival indicates there is still significant work left for her to accomplish. The ousted prime minister further asserted that while a mob might have demolished her house, they would never succeed in erasing history.
Sheikh Hasina’s father, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, is regarded as the founder of Bangladesh. Her statement followed the vandalism and arson attack on Rahman’s residence in Dhaka on Wednesday by a large group of protesters, coinciding with Hasina’s live online address.
In a tearful message, Hasina said, “We live for those memories of Dhanmondi. Now they are destroying that house. Last time they set this house on fire, now they are smashing it as well. Have I not done anything? Have I not worked for you all? Then why this house from where my father gave call for freedom has been ransacked? I want to ask my people who is behind this? I want justice.“
According to reports, thousands of people had gathered in front of the house in Dhaka’s Dhanmondi area since early evening, responding to a social media call for a “Bulldozer Procession.” The protest coincided with Hasina’s scheduled address at 9 PM (BST).
During her speech, Hasina, addressing supporters of the now-disbanded Awami League student wing, Chhatra League, urged citizens to resist the current ruling establishment.
Referring to the regime of Nobel Laureate Muhammad Yunus, which was installed by the Anti-Discrimination Students Movement, Hasina declared, “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 further emphasized, “They can demolish a building, but not the history… but they must also remember that history takes its revenge.” The student movement had previously vowed to abolish Bangladesh’s 1972 Constitution, labeling it the “Mujibist Constitution.” Meanwhile, certain far-right groups had proposed changing the national anthem, which had been adopted by Sheikh Mujib’s government following Bangladesh’s independence.
The house at 32 Dhanmondi holds a significant place in Bangladesh’s history, as it was where Sheikh Mujib led the pre-independence autonomy movement for years. During Awami League’s tenure, it was converted into a museum that foreign dignitaries and heads of state would visit as part of state protocol.
This same residence was previously set ablaze on August 5 of the preceding year when Hasina’s nearly 16-year-long Awami League government was overthrown. Following the regime’s collapse, she and her younger sister, Sheikh Rehana, left Bangladesh for India aboard a Bangladesh Air Force flight.
Hasina revealed that she and her only surviving sibling had donated their ancestral home to a trust, turning it into public property as the Bangabandhu Memorial Museum. Sheikh Mujib, affectionately known as “Bangabandhu” or “Friend of Bengal,” had led a mass movement for autonomy from Pakistan in the late 1960s, which ultimately resulted in Bangladesh’s independence in 1971.
