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The Anti-discrimination Student Movement has blocked the streets near Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman’s house on Dhanmondi Road No. 32, the Bangabandhu Memorial Museum, and the lakeside area on the anniversary of the killing of him and his family.
They have not allowed anyone to stand in front of the house on Thursday morning. Anyone attempting to bring flowers to lay in front of Bangabandhu’s portrait or identifying themselves as Awami League are being removed from the area. Several people have allegedly been beaten, reports bdnews24.com.
The interim government that took power after the ousting of the Awami League government has cancelled the public holiday previously celebrated as ‘National Mourning Day. Now, the Awami League is trying to commemorate Aug 15 under sharply different circumstances.
Most of the party’s leaders are in hiding. When Awami League President Sheikh Hasina called on activists to commemorate the occasion from India, the party’s activists announced on social media they would make their way to Dhanmondi Road No. 32.
However, the Anti-discrimination Student Movement has been occupying the Dhanmondi Road No. 32 area since around midnight on Wednesday.
Several hundred protesters were in front of the house around midnight on Thursday. They took up positions on both sides of the building around 6am and blocked anyone attempting to pay their respects.
As of 9:45am, no one was able to enter the area. Protesters had taken up positions from the Sukrabad intersection and in front of the Metro Shopping Mall. They conducted marches to Dhanmondi Road No. 27 and back to Road No. 32. They occupied the lakeside too. Many held sticks in their hands.
Army personnel were seen at Road No. 32. There were police, BGB, and army personnel in front of Metro Shopping Mall too.
Anyone wearing black clothes or badges was immediately chased and attacked. Anyone under suspicion had their mobiles checked.
Jaber Hossein Likhon, an Awami League leader, was blocked from going near the house through Road No. 32 and attempted to walk around the lakeside. He was attacked and beaten and has since been taken to Suhrawardy Medical College Hospital.
Within four years of winning independence from Pakistan, Bangabandhu, along with most of his family members, was assassinated by some rogue army officers on Aug 15, 1975.
The self-confessed killers even did not spare 10-year-old Sheikh Russel on the darkest night in Bangladesh's history. Sheikh Hasina and Sheikh Rehana survived at that time as the two daughters of Bangabandhu were abroad.
The Aug 15 massacre was not commemorated for 20 years from 1975 to 1995 at the national level. It was declared National Mourning Day by the Awami League after it came to power in 1996, which was again scrapped by the BNP and Jamaat-e-Islami coalition government in 2001.
The day has been observed as National Mourning Day since 2008 following a High Court order.
The Bangabandhu Memorial Museum, which was the residence of Bangabandhu, was set ablaze after the Aug 5 overthrow of the government.
Over the past 15 years, the Awami League has been observing the day with numerous programmes spanning the month. Similar events were planned for this year too but the government was brought down by a student-led mass movement. Hasina fled to India after resigning from her premiership.