Former Bangladeshi prime minister Sheikh Hasina’s official residence – the Ganabhaban palace – is all set to be converted into a museum. This decision comes as Bangladesh marks one year since the ouster of the Awami League leader after the July student uprising.
Muhammad Yunus, the 85-year-old Nobel Peace Prize winner and leader of the interim caretaker government stated that the conversion to a museum would “preserve memories of her misrule and the people’s anger when they removed her from power,” according to an AFP news agency report.
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As per Mosfiqur Rahman Johan, 27, a rights activist and documentary photographer, the palace will “visualise and symbolise the past trauma, the past suffering — and also the resistance.”
“Ganabhaban is a symbol of fascism, the symbol of an autocratic regime,” he told AFP.
The news agency report further adds that the museum will focus on the protestors killed during the 2024 movement. As per the United Nations, around 1,400 people were killed between July and August 2024.
Ganabhaban palace, which was once a heavily guarded palace for Sheikh Hasina, was at the centre of the Bangladeshi student uprising last year. Images of flag-waving crowds climbing onto the rooftop of the official residence as Sheikh Hasina fled for India remain some of the defining moments of the movement.
Videos on social media went viral as members of the movement and protestors broke into the house and were seen enjoying the prime minister’s riches.
Minutes after Hasina fled Dhaka, her official residence was looted by a violent mob. sarees, decorative items, clocks, sofas, luxury handbags, television sets, and even fish from the kitchen were looted by members of the mob.
As the nation marks one year since the protests which toppled the Hasina government, the former prime minister continues to be in the limelight for her widespread human rights abuses, mass detentions and extrajudicial killings of her political opponents.
The 77-year-old leader has been accused of committing crimes against humanity during the July uprising and her 15-year tenure as prime minister. However, Hasina continues to defy court orders and the accusations against her, which have also been supported by the UN.
