Dhaka: Protesters in Bangladesh have attacked and torched houses of leaders of deposed prime minister Sheikh Hasina's Awami League across the country, and murals of the country's founder Sheikh Mujibur Rahman were demolished and defaced in nearly two dozen districts, according to media reports.
The unrest sparked over a live online address by Hasina on Wednesday night when protestors targeted the house of Sheikh Mujib. A house of Awami League Presidium Member Sheikh Selim in Dhaka’s Banani was set on fire around 1:30 am on Friday.
Security concerns prevented the Fire Service vehicles from accessing the site until 2:45 am, the Fire Service control room duty officer was quoted as saying by the United News of Bangladesh (UNB).
A day after the Dhanmondi-32 residence of Sheikh Mujib was torched and torn down, protesters ransacked and set the house of Obaidul Quader, general secretary of Awami League (AL), in Noakhali's Companiganj on fire, the Daily Star newspaper reported on Friday.
During the attack on the house in the Bora Rajapur Mohalla area around 1:00 pm, the two-storey building and tin-roofed rooms of Quader's younger brother Abdul Quader Mirza, president of Companiganj AL, and Shahadat Mirza, former mayor of Basurhat municipality, were also ransacked.
A car parked in front of the house was also torched. No one was home then. In Rajshahi, a group of protesters set the three-storey house of Shahriar Alam, former state minister for foreign affairs, in Chaksinga Mohalla on fire, UNB reported. Witnesses said over 100 people from Bagha and Charghat upazilas went there on motorbikes and set the house on fire around noon.
Protesters also attacked and torched the house of AL leader Abu Sayeed in the Shalgaria village of Pabna yesterday. They broke the gate, ransacked the house, and then set it on fire on Thursday evening, said witnesses.
Abu Sayeed, vice-president of Pabna Sadar upazila AL and also the former chairman of Varara Union Parishad, is accused in a case filed over an attack on demonstrators that left two students dead during the July uprising. He has been in hiding since.
On Thursday, in Cumilla, protesters demolished two murals of Sheikh Mujib in the city. They took a bulldozer to the Cumilla Judge Court premises around 4:00 pm and demolished a mural in front of a court building.
Addressing the people present at the scene, Rashedul Haque, secretary of the Cumilla City unit of Students Against Discrimination, said, "We will demolish all signs of fascism." Later, another mural of Sheikh Mujib was bulldozed at Cumilla City Park.
In Narayanganj, pro-BNP lawyers demolished murals and a bust of Sheikh Mujib at the Narayanganj Judge Court premises and the offices of deputy commissioner, and superintendent of police in the city. Construction workers were called in and instructed to demolish them with hammers and crowbars, said witnesses.
In Narsingdi, demonstrators defaced a mural of Sheikh Mujib on the District and Sessions Judge Court premises around noon. Some 10 pro-AL Bangladesh Chhatra League activists, who were then being taken to court by police, were also attacked.
Witnesses said several hundred people went to the AL office in the Main Road area around 4:00 pm and demolished it with an excavator. In Bagerhat, six murals of Sheikh Mujib were defaced in the Muktijoddha Complex, Municipality Park, Shaheed Minar areas in the town, and in Mongla Upazila Parishad Complex, Mongla Children Park, and Muktijoddha Bhaban on Thursday.
Protesters also demolished a mural of Sheikh Mujib at the Barishal Press Club. Demonstrators also torched several properties, including the Feni district AL office and the houses of ex-MPs Lt Gen (retd) Masud Uddin Chowdhury, and Alauddin Ahmed Chowdhury Nasim. In Thakurgaon, protesters defaced five murals of Sheikh Mujib, Sheikh Russel, and Sheikh Moni in the town.
The interim government led by Muhammad Yunus said the acts of vandalism and arson across the country will be firmly resisted. "The interim government is observing with deep concern that certain individuals and groups are attempting vandalism and arson in various institutions and establishments across the country. The government will firmly resist such activities," it said in a statement.
The government said it is prepared to ensure the security of citizens and their property, the Dhaka Tribune newspaper reported. The statement said if any attempt is made to destabilise the country through provocative actions, law enforcement agencies will take immediate and strict measures against the responsible individuals and groups and bring the culprits to justice.
The student movement earlier promised to scrap Bangladesh’s 1972 Constitution as they promised to bury the “Mujibist constitution” while some far-right groups also suggested a change of the national anthem adopted by Mujib-led post-independence government.
Hasina, 77, has been living in India since August 5 last year when she fled Bangladesh following a massive student-led protest that toppled her Awami League’s 16-year regime. Hasina's father is widely viewed as an independence hero, but anger at his daughter has tarnished his legacy.
In a Facebook livestream, Hasina condemned the attack and demanded "justice". "They can demolish a building, but they can't erase history," she said.
Bangladesh’s International Crimes Tribunal (ICT) has issued arrest warrants for Hasina and several former Cabinet ministers, advisers, and military and civil officials for “crimes against humanity and genocide”.
Meanwhile, the Bangladesh Nationalist Party headed by former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia, Hasina's main political rival, has expressed concern over the country's current situation, saying that stability could be at risk if the government fails to demonstrate its ability to control the emerging challenges.
"If the government cannot effectively manage the ongoing situation, the stability of both the state and the government will face serious threats," the party said in a press release last night.
Senior Joint Secretary General Ruhul Kabir Rizvi cautioned in the release that the current situation could lead to the resurgence of defeated fascists alongside extremist, anarchist, and anti-democratic forces, both domestic and foreign, The Daily Star reported. "The symptoms of such a resurgence are already visible," the press release said.
The BNP urged the interim government to take immediate and decisive action to bring the situation under control. "Otherwise, anarchic conditions will spread across the country. It is now imperative to visibly demonstrate the role of the state and the government by strictly enforcing law and order," it said.
"If the people take the law into their own hands while a government is in power, the government's image at home and abroad could be tarnished," the release said.
