Armed with bamboo sticks, iron rods and pipes, mob assaults supporters of the ousted leader and stops them from reaching a memorial to her father.
Hundreds of student protesters and political activists, vowing to guard Bangladesh’s student-led “revolution”, have attacked the supporters of ousted Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and prevented them from reaching the house of her father, the assassinated independence leader Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.
The rally was called on Thursday by the supporters of Hasina’s Awami League party to mark the anniversary of the August 15, 1975 assassination of Rahman and other members of his family during a military coup. Hasina survived along with her younger sister because they were visiting Germany.
Hasina’s government had declared August 15 a national holiday. But the holiday was cancelled by the interim government led by Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus, who took over following Hasina’s downfall.
Armed with bamboo sticks, iron rods and pipes and with no police in sight, hundreds of people blocked the entrance to Bangabandhu Memorial Museum, Hasina’s family home in Dhaka’s Dhanmondi area that was turned into a memorial to her father. Rahman is fondly called “bangabandhu”, or a friend of Bengal.
The house was torched by the protesters hours after Hasina, 76, resigned and fled to India on August 5 in a dramatic end to her iron-fisted rule of 15 years. Her ouster followed an uprising during which more than 300 people were killed.
In her first public statement since her abrupt departure, Hasina asked supporters earlier this week to “pray for the salvation of all souls by offering floral garlands and praying” outside the landmark.
But Hasina’s opponents said they will stop the gathering of her supporters as they could attempt to create chaos in the name of commemoration. Overnight, they held a party using loudspeakers and playing songs as they danced outside the museum.
“Fugitive and dictator Sheikh Hasina has ordered her goons and militia forces to come to the site so they can produce a counter-revolution,” Imraul Hasan Kayes, 26, told AFP news agency.
“We are here to guard our revolution so that it doesn’t slip out of our hands.”
Several people that the crowd suspected of being Awami League supporters were thrashed with sticks, while others were forcibly escorted away.
Meanwhile, Bangladesh’s interim government on Thursday announced that the United Nations would probe the “atrocities” committed during the weeks-long protests that ousted Hasina’s government.
The announcement followed a phone conversation between Yunus and UN human rights chief Volker Turk on Wednesday, with officials in the interim government saying the UN investigators are likely to arrive next week.
Hasina’s government was accused of widespread human rights abuses, including the mass detention and extrajudicial killing of thousands of her political opponents during her 15-year stint in power.
Local authorities have also launched investigations into allegations of murders, genocide and crimes against humanity committed by the deposed Hasina, her cabinet colleagues and top security officials.