Bangladeshi protesters storm and destroy house linked to exiled former PM Hasina
The attack on Wednesday was sparked by a speech Sheikh Hasina planned to give to supporters from exile in neighbouring India.
Thousands of protesters in Bangladesh took out their anger at exiled former prime minister Sheikh Hasina by destroying a family home that came to symbolise the country’s independence — and now, they say, the authoritarianism they believe she led.
The attack on Wednesday was sparked by a speech Ms Hasina planned to give to supporters from exile in neighbouring India, where she fled last year during a deadly student-led uprising against her 15-year rule.
Critics had accused her of suppressing dissent.
He was assassinated there in 1975 and Ms Hasina later turned the home into a museum.
Since she fled the country, some of her supporters have tried to gather there but have been attacked by Ms Hasina’s critics, who have attacked other symbols of her government and party since the uprising, ransacking and setting fires in several buildings.
On Wednesday, some protesters threatened to “bulldoze” the building if the former prime minister went ahead with her speech, which marked the start of a month-long protest programme by her Awami League political party.
The party is trying to gain support amid allegations of attacks on its members and other Hasina backers.
As Ms Hasina began speaking, protesters stormed the house and started dismantling the brick walls, later bringing a crane and an excavator to demolish the building.
She also called on the people of Bangladesh to resist the country’s new leaders and alleged that they took power by “unconstitutional” means.
Hasnat Abdullah, a student leader, had warned media outlets against Ms Hasina’s speech and announced on Facebook that “tonight Bangladesh will be freed from the pilgrimage site of fascism”.
Many of the protesters chanted slogans demanding Ms Hasina’s execution for hundreds of deaths during last year’s uprising against her.
It was some of the country’s worst upheaval since independence. Ms Hasina urged a UN investigation into the deaths.
They also chanted slogans criticising India. An interim government in Bangladesh led by Nobel Peace laureate Muhammad Yunus has sought Ms Hasina’s extradition but India has not responded.
The interim government, which has been struggling to maintain order and prevent mob justice against Ms Hasina’s supporters, has accused the former prime minister of widespread corruption and human rights abuses during her rule that began in 2009.
Ms Hasina’s Awami League in turn has accused the Yunus-led government of violating human rights and suppressing Bangladesh’s minority groups, which authorities have denied.
