As Prime Minister Narendra Modi visits Bangladesh to take part in Mujib Borsho celebrations to mark the birth centenary of Bangladesh’s Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rehman, we take you to Dhanmondi in Dhaka where a building stands testimony to the gruesome killing of Sheikh Mujibur Rehman and his family on that fateful night of August 15, 1975.
Now turned into a museum, the building was once the house of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. It is here that he spent most of his decisive years, led the 1962 Anti-Ayub Movement of 1962 besides the Six-Point Movement of 1966, steered the 1970 general elections of 1970 and took charge of the Non-Cooperation Movement leading up to Bangladesh’s struggle for independence in 1971.
Holding a special place in Bangladesh’s history, the Dhanmondi house was at the centre of all of Bangabandhu’s activities, including planning activities, exchanging views on matters of national importance with leaders and activists and listening to people’s grievances.
The blueprint of his historic March 7 speech was also prepared in this very house. Post the Liberation War, when Bangabandhu served as the President of independent Bangladesh, he used this house as his base of operations and took key decisions on running the government.
After she was elected President of Awami League, Bangabandhu’s daughter Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina returned to this home in 1981. She cleared off all pending dues to the House Building Finance Corporation and handed over the house to the Bangabandhu Memorial Trust. On August 14, 1994, the trust turned the house into a museum.
Tugging at the heartstrings of people of Bangladesh, the Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Memorial Museum today is akin to a pilgrimage spot.
As one walks up the stairs and takes a look at different rooms in the museum, the horror of one of the worst political massacres Bangladesh has ever seen comes back to haunt one and all. Mujib and his wife Begum Fazilatunnesa Mujib and 12 other family members were mercilessly gunned down on August 15, 1975.
Incidentally, in his confession before he was sent to the gallows in April 2020, dismissed military officer Abdul Majed admitted that former Bangladesh Army chief Ziaur Rahman was behind Bangabandhu’s assassination 45 years back.
Blood stains on the windows, a painting of bullet-riddled Bangabandhu, his son Sheikh Russel’s bloodstained T-Shirt and his sports equipment are also displayed in the museum besides other memorabilia.
From the second to fourth floor of the six-storey house, photographs depicting different phases of Bangabandhu’s life make the walls come alive. A library and research center are also located in the museum.
There is also a book of mourning where visitors pen down their feelings.