The Crime Desk: Two unidentified bodies were lying in front of house number 32 in Dhanmondi. Several curious people surrounded the two corpses, covered with old printed cloths. Near the edge of Dhanmondi Lake is the ruined altar of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman’s mural and wreath. Hundreds of people are entering through the broken gate of Bangabandhu’s historic house on the other side of the road. The three-story house was burned. This image was seen at Dhanmondi number 32 on Tuesday around 1.30 pm.
This historical house has a close connection with the great liberation war of Bangladesh. Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman used to give directions from his residence in the days before the Liberation War. Thousands of freedom-crazed people came to know about the next steps of the movement from his mouth.
Within five years of the victory in the Liberation War, a tragic massacre took place in this house. On August 15, 1975, Bangabandhu, his wife-son, daughter-in-law, and other relatives were brutally killed here. 49 years later, in the same month of August, the house was once again struck by brutality. On Monday afternoon, angry people attacked this house and set it on fire.
This house of Bangabandhu was built as a memorial museum. The main house has three floors. The house, furniture, bullet-marked walls, and all the items used by Bangabandhu were preserved as much as possible in the condition that it was at the time of the assassination, and the house was opened to the public as the Bangabandhu Memorial Museum in 1994. Later, a new building was built behind the main house to house the library, research center, and seminar rooms.
On the surface, it was seen that groups of people were coming to see the house. The doors and cupboards of every room up to the third floor of the main house were burned. All the belongings of every room downstairs and on the second floor are burned, and there are piles of ash and coal on the floor. The ceiling fan blades were twisted by the heat of the fire. The walls are black with smoke and soot. Fire damage is less in the third-floor room. But the belongings were looted.
Next to the main house was the kitchen, two separate small rooms for the pigeons. They have only burnt structure. A sculpture of Bangabandhu made of white cement was lying on the ground floor of the new building behind. People were trying to take away books and other items from the library of this building. Some students of various educational institutions were trying to prevent looting. Especially with the books they were piling on the side of the floor.
Among them were Bangladesh University of Engineering (BUET) chemical engineering final stage student Naeemul Islam and Standard University MBA third year student Tanvi Ahmed, who said they are trying to stop looting. Saved the books. But in the end, he was quite indecisive about the custody of the books.
Different people come to see the house. Many people have written various words, including ‘No. 32 Porabari’ with coal on different walls of the house.
The businessman Shah Alam came from Jurain. He said the way looting is happening is very sad. This should not happen.
According to Moshiur Rahman from Kalabagan, people’s anger has been expressed. Looting, corruption, suppression of common people—they did not do less. Such a result was supposed to happen. This building, burnt by the fire of people’s anger, will witness another round of history.
