The interim government considers the vandalism at house number 32 in Dhanmondi to be unintended and undesirable. However, they believe that Sheikh Hasina’s provocative statements against the July coup while in exile in India have created deep public anger and are being expressed.
This was stated in a statement sent from the Chief Advisor’s press wing on Thursday.
Meanwhile, various international media outlets have reported the demolition of house number 32 in Dhanmondi.
The news of the demolition of the house on Road No. 32 has been reported by leading media and news agencies around the world, including the UK’s BBC, Reuters, and The Guardian; Turkey’s Anadolu Agency and TRT World; Saudi Arabia’s Arab News; the US’s CNN and ABC News; India’s Bengali newspapers ‘Anandabazar Patrika’, ‘Ai Som’, and ‘Vartman’, as well as the English newspapers ‘The Telegraph’ and ‘Indian Express’.
BBC headlines: Protesters set fire to family home of former Bangladeshi prime minister.
The British news agency Reuters carried a headline saying, “Protesters set fire to the house of ousted Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s father.” The report said that thousands of protesters set fire to the house of Sheikh Mujib.
The French news agency AFP has headlined, “Bangladesh protesters try to demolish Hasina’s father’s house.” It says that Bangladeshi protesters are stationed in front of the house of ousted dictator Sheikh Hasina’s father. They are trying to demolish the building.
AP headlined it, “Bangladeshi protesters vandalize former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s home.” It added, “The attack was triggered by a speech Hasina gave to supporters from exile in neighboring India. Sheikh Hasina fled to India on August 5 last year during a fierce student-led uprising against 15 years of rule.”
Anadolu Agency wrote in the headline of their report, ‘Former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s live speech from India sparks protests in Bangladesh’.
The Anandabazar Patrika report mentioned, ‘Exactly six months ago, on the evening of August 5, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman’s residence on Road No. 32 in Dhaka was set on fire. Only the concrete structure survived.’
A report on the incident at Dhanmondi No. 32 was published on the front page of the Indian Bengali newspaper Baratman. Its headline was, ‘New Bangladesh! Bangabandhu’s house demolished’.
The report mentioned, “Tell everyone, give Mujibabad a grave…”, the slogan raised by the ‘New’ Bangladesh at midnight. The Bangabandhu Bhaban at 32, Dhanmondi was demolished in a ‘bulldozer procession’. Sheikh Hasina was then sitting in Delhi and giving a message to her supporters through virtual channels.”
The Indian Express, on page 12, reported, “Protesters torch home of Mujibur during Hasina’s online speech,” saying, “A large group of protesters on Wednesday vandalized and set fire to the Dhaka home of Bangladesh’s founder Sheikh Mujibur Rahman while his daughter, ousted Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, was giving an online speech.”
The headline of the report published on the second page of ‘The Telegraph’ newspaper was ‘Mujib Home Attacked’, which in Bengali means ‘Mujib’s home attacked’.
At the beginning of the report, the current law and order situation in Bangladesh is mentioned in the wake of Wednesday night’s incident.
According to the report, “According to reports in Bangladeshi media, some attackers, mostly young men, broke through the gate of the building, considered a historical landmark and heritage site, and vandalized a memorial in the building before setting the entire building on fire.”