Demolition of historic 32 Dhanmondi house

The demolition campaign against Sheikh Mujib's residence on Road 32, Dhanmondi, Hasina's Suda Sadan and other Awami League leaders' homes is a completely new phenomenon in this country's history. Immediately after the fall of Sheikh Hasina's government, the 32, Dhanmondi house, no longer a living quarter but a museum displaying the rare documents of the liberation struggle and memorabilia of Mujib, the main architect of national emancipation, was torched, vandalised and looted.

This time the organisers of the demolition drive called it a "bulldozer procession", an unprecedented coinage of words to express the meaning of the act. The act is to reduce the residence to rubbles. Eminent citizens, organisations like the Human Rights Watch (HRW), the Transparency International, Bangladesh (TIB) have expressed deep concern over such acts of violence. Even the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) made its unease at the escalation of lawlessness no secret.

However, it is the HRW that has summed up the undesirable development succinctly. Its observation, "while the anger against the former Awami League government is justified, lawlessness is not" has been to the point. Admittedly, the provocation was great with Hasina addressing her supporters online from India but that does not allow people to take law into their own hands. There is a great difference between the attacks on anything associated with the tyrannical ruler following her overthrow and this latest unleashing of reprisals on the residence-turned museum on road 32 and many other homes of Awami League leaders across the country. Given the mob justice still getting the better of the rule of law, the HRW has rightly warned that the country, "which has a history of political violence, should not spiral once again into deadly abuses".

No wonder, the interim government also asked all to refrain from such destructive acts. But by that time, the damage was done and the 32 Dhanmondi house was reduced to ruins.  Had it acted promptly not so much in the interest of those to whom the property belong but in the interest of law and order and also social peace and stability, it would send the right message. It should not have allowed any such developments that go in favour of the deposed tyrants by default.

After all, unrestrained violence of this order covered live by TV channels encourages anti-social elements to commit the vilest crimes. It is a psychological extension of mind that lends them the mental leap to link the act of violence in full glare of public gaze to their clandestine criminal acts. They cannot be blamed for not finding any difference between the two acts because of their convoluted logic. Small details are particularly shocking. Some people came to the demolished residence on road 32, Dhanmondi with hacksaws and crowbars to take away MS rods and others were excavating the remaining walls to dig out electric wires from the historic building so that they could sell those to make some bucks.

This exactly represents the mindset of a segment of people when there is nothing to consider sacrosanct and anything and everything are either undermined or desecrated. Hasina committed unpardonable crime but his father is not a party to her crime. Until 1971, Sheikh Mujib's role cannot be questioned and destroying the building where he was killed along with members of his family cannot be a wise act. It was not Sheikh Hasina's personal property, it was an embodiment of history that deserved to be preserved for its historic value including its negative sides. Perhaps even the student leadership responsible for spearheading the July-August uprising will not subscribe to the view of this antithetical and deconstructive history of the country's Liberation War.

The nation cannot be asked to unlearn the lessons of the Liberation War. But maybe, there are forces within taking advantage of the lax law and order situation to advance their agenda of demeaning the country's most glorious achievement---the making of a nation.

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