Rampaging protesters in Bangladesh on Wednesday demolished and set ablaze the family house of ousted Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and some of her party members ahead of her planned social media speech.
Footage of hundreds of protesters chanting as a bulldozer pulled down the house of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, Ms Hasina’s father, in Dhaka, went viral on Wednesday.
Ms Hasina’s family house was turned into a museum in honour of her dad, who led Bangladesh’s independence from Pakistan in 1971.
Wednesday’s protests were sparked by Ms Hasina’s planned social media speech to charge her supporters to oppose the interim government led by Nobel Peace Prize laureate Muhammad Yunus.
Ms Hasina, 77, who ruled Bangladesh for 20 years, was ousted last year through a youth-led revolution, condemned the demolition of her father’s house.
“They can demolish a building, but not the history. History takes its revenge,” Ms Hasina said in her speech on Wednesday night.
In a follow-up post on social media, Ms Hasina said, “@Yunus_Centre and the entire #InterimGovernment cannot escape liability for last night’s destructive acts.
“The Interim Govt of @ChiefAdviserGoB had earlier provided de facto immunity to the so-called “protesters” for their crimes up to Aug 8, 2024. One of those crimes was the burning down of #BangabandhuMuseum at #Dhanmondi Road 32.”
The former Bangladesh prime minister has been in exile in India since a student-led protest that lasted weeks ousted her from office in August last year.
Mr Yunus-led interim government has moved to extradite Ms Hasina to Bangladesh as citizens clamour for her to be tried for the killing of protesters by security officials under her watch.
