Bangladesh Ex-pm Palace becomes a revolution museum

• Protests led by students destroyed the Hasina government on August 5, 2024.
• The former prime minister left India after the protesters took over the Dhaka Palace.
• The 77 -year -old defied the judicial orders to attend her ongoing trial.

Dhaka: Just a strongly guarded palace, the former official residence of the remote Prime Minister of Bangladesh Sheikh Hasina turns into a museum as a constant reminder of her authoritarian sovereignty.

Photographs of ridiculous crowds with the flag that rushed to the terrace of the Dhaka palace, after Hasina left the helicopter in India were a decisive picture of the culmination of protests that led to students who destroyed its government on August 5.

A year later, with the nation of South Asia about 170 million people still in political turmoil, authorities hope that the spacious Ganabhaban palace offers a message in the future.

The graffiti flooded on the walls condemning its regime remains untouched.

“Freedom,” he reads a message. “We want justice.”

Hasina’s rule saw extensive violations of human rights, including mass detention and out -of -court assassinations of its political opponents. Up to 1,400 people were killed between July and August 2024 in its failed attempt to cling to power, according to the United Nations.

The 77 -year -old has defied the judicial orders to attend her ongoing trial of charges that were equivalent to crimes against humanity in Dhaka, allegations she denies.

“Dictator” reads another message among the ratings protected for birthdays. “Killer Hasina”.

Muhammad Yunus, the 85 -year -old winner of the Nobel Peace Prize, who leads the government’s government until the elections are held in early 2026, said that the conversion to a museum would “maintain the memories of the wrong and the rage of people when it was removed from it.”

Trauma symbol, pain

Mosfiqur Rahman Johan, 27, a rights activist and a documentary photographer, was one of the thousands who threw the luxurious palace when crowds danced in her bedroom, lunch from the kitchens and swim in Lake Hasina.

“It will depict and symbolize the past trauma, the past pain – and also the resistance,” he said.

“Ganabhaban is a symbol of fascism, the symbol of an authoritarian regime.”

The band was built by Hasina’s father, Bangladesh’s first leader, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, and Hasina made her official home during her 15 years in her power.

Tanzim Wahab, Curator of the Construction Museum AFP These exhibits will include objects of protesters killed.

Their life stories will be said through films and photographs, while the plates will host the names of people killed by security forces during the longer period of Hasina’s domination.

“The deepest purpose of the museum is retrospective, looking back on the long years of bad situation and oppression,” Wahab said.

“This, I believe, is one of the most important aspects of this project.”

Wahab said the museum would include cartoons and interactive installations, as well as documentation of tiny cells where Hasin’s opponents were kept in suffocating conditions.

“We want young people […] To use it as a platform for the debate on democratic ideas, new thought and how to build a new Bangladesh, “Wahab said.

Dictatorship

That is beating with the promised strengthening of democratic institutions that the temporary leader Yunus wants to secure before the election – efforts have slowed as political parties eject power.

The challenges he faces are enormous, they warned human rights to attend before the anniversary of the revolution.

“The temporary government seems stuck, weighing a security area that has not been informed, sometimes violent religious hard -core and political groups that look more focused on exporting revenge to Hasina supporters from the protection of Bangladeshi rights,” Hrw said.

But while the Hasina Palace is maintained, the protesters have broken many other visible signs of its domination.

Hasina’s father’s statues were overthrown and the portraits of the twin torn and fire.

The protesters even used excavators to break the home of the late Sheikh Mujibur Rahman – which Hassina had turned into a museum on her father.

“When the dictatorship falls, Makkah will go too much,” said Muhibullah Al Mashnun, who was among the crowds that broke the house.

The 23 -year -old student believes that removing such symbols was necessary for Bangladesh to move on to a better future. “It was the statues of dictatorship,” Mashnun said.