Desk Report,
The interior of Ganabhaban took on a new shape after the coup.
Before entering the hall on the ground floor of the building, a small makeup brush is seen lying on the floor. The large table and chairs in the hall are almost all broken. The things that people could not take with them have been broken. As a result, large pieces of glass are lying on the floor of various rooms of the building. As soon as you step out, you feel like these pieces of glass will penetrate your feet right away through your shoes. The piles of paper in various rooms and even on the stairs remind you of the situation after the cyclone. This picture was seen on June 2 when I visited Ganobhaban, the residence of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, who was ousted from power in a mass uprising, for a decade and a half. After Sheikh Hasina resigned on August 5 last year in the face of intense public protests and fled to India, a stream of people entered Ganobhaban. A large number of people expressed their anger in the huge Ganobhaban as they wished. The Prime Minister’s residence was reduced to rubble due to vandalism. Along with this, looting took place. On that day, people looted everything from important documents to the saris used by ousted Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, fishing gear, fish from the pond, and cooked food.
The interior of Ganabhaban took on a new shape after the coup.
The interim government is turning this Ganabhaban into a July Memorial Museum. On August 5, the first anniversary of the July-August uprising, Chief Advisor Professor Muhammad Yunus inspected the progress of the museum construction work at Ganabhaban. The museum has not yet been opened to the general public. As the National Museum authorities took charge of Ganabhaban and took forward the work of building the museum, the general public was not allowed to enter it for the last few months. During this time, with the permission of Cultural Advisor Mustafa Sarwar Faruqi, they were allowed to enter Ganabhaban on June 2. The last picture seen here is the one that was shown. There was no electricity in Ganabhaban at that time. Even the switchboard there had been uprooted. It was pitch dark in many rooms of the building. Someone also took away the board with the big word Ganabhaban. Inside Ganabhaban that day, Sheikh Hasina’s medical X-ray film, a packet of Sterling High Quality Shotgun Shells from the Exclusive Series, a Covid-19 test card, an invitation letter for the inauguration of various projects including the Padma Bridge and Metrorail, a receipt for the National SME Product Fair 2024, a membership application form filled out by someone for the Kurmitola Golf Club, a card commemorating the 50th anniversary of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman receiving the Julio Curie Peace Medal, page 65 of Amar Dekha Naya China, a heartbreaking 15th August written in a newspaper by HT Imam, a chair without a mattress, empty packets of cigarettes of different brands, an empty packet sent by the DGFI in 2013, a leaflet for the 2023 Great Victory Day postage stamp, a scene from 1973 written on paper for a movie made about Sheikh Mujibur Rahman – various characters Copies of dialogues, packets of Sheikh Hasina’s daughter Saima Wazed’s 2017 MRI report, shotgun cleaning packets, a committee on autism and neurodevelopmental disorders, invitations, Iqbal’s poems in red, visiting cards of journalists, Sheikh Hasina’s visiting cards are peeking out from here and there. A graduation report card of a student of Lalmatia Women’s College, a blurry black-and-white family photo, it is no longer possible to find out their history. In one room of the building, a leaflet with a picture of Sheikh Hasina’s son Sajeeb Wazed Joy was seen, with the words, “The goal is now Smart Bangladesh.”
In one place of the building, a laminated photo of a burnt body was seen. The caption of the photo read, Bus helper Tofazzal Hossain died in a fire set by Jamaat-BNP in Kaliakoir, Gazipur. The three chandeliers in the hall room were hanging intact. With this, a glimpse of the past splendor of Ganabhaban seemed to be peeking out.
