Dhanmondi 32 in Dhaka is an address like no other. The house located there stood as a grim memory of Bangladesh’s liberation struggle and the blood shed to keep that spirit alive. It was the official residence of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the then president and the father of Bangladesh’s liberation movement. It was where Mujib, along with almost all of his friends, spent their childhood. His family was massacred on 15 August 1975.
Mujib’s assassination changed the course of Bangladesh’s history. Later, Dhanmondi 32 was converted into a museum dedicated to Bangabandhu Mujibur Rahman and the 1971 Liberation War. Floral tributes are laid and tributes paid here every year on August 15, which is a national holiday in Bangladesh till date.
Students perform ‘Lungi Dance’ outside Dhanmondi 32
Showing how Bangladesh’s politics has taken a U-turn, dozens of students on August 15 danced to the ‘Lungi Dance’ outside Dhanmondi 32. A video of a crowd dancing to Honey Singh’s song from the Shah Rukh Khan-starrer masala film Chennai Express (2013) went viral.
In the viral video, the camera shows Mujibur Rahman’s house which was recently burnt down by protesters during the anti-Sheikh Hasina movement. The mob burned the building and looted artefacts.
Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, who fled Bangladesh on August 5 as violent mobs turned bloodthirsty, is the daughter of Mujibur Rahman.
The sight of the gloomy building juxtaposed against the noisy celebration has largely been considered obscene.
The anger against the Sheikh Hasina regime and the rise of pro-Pakistan and anti-liberation forces became evident on August 5 when protesters vandalised statues of Mujibur Rahman.
On August 15, a group of people belonging to that ideology stood guard around Dhanmondi 32 to stop people from coming to celebrate Mujib’s death anniversary. They beat up people and chased them away. The interim government’s stance was as clear as before. Mujib’s death anniversary was given the status of a national holiday.
Many people gathered to give money to Mujib
In her first message from exile, Sheikh Hasina urged people to celebrate August 15 and pay honour to the freedom fighters of 1971 who sacrificed their lives for the independence of Bangladesh from Pakistan.
However, this is the “new” Bangladesh, where Hasina’s ouster is being celebrated as the “second Independence Day”.
In another viral video, a local Awami League leader, who wanted to celebrate Mujib’s death anniversary, was stripped down to his underwear and forced to make gestures as commanded by his captors.
“There was no procession, no demonstration but people wanted to pay tribute to the Father of the Nation Bangabandhu. Under the guise of students, radical groups Jamaat-e-Islami, Bangladesh Islami Students’ Union and Bangladesh Nationalist Party are beating up people,” Hasina’s Awami League party said in a post on Twitter on Thursday.
Many people criticised the Bangladeshi lungi dance video. Many of them blamed Sheikh Hasina for this blatant disrespect to dictatorship and Mujib’s legacy.
Bangladeshi-American political analyst and faculty member at the University of Dallas sheds light on the events that led up to Mujib’s assassination.
Rabbi says, “15 August 1975 was the day when Sheikh Mujib was brutally murdered along with almost his entire family by Bangladesh military officers. Before his assassination by the army, Sheikh Mujib had abolished all political parties except his own party, making Bangladesh a one-party state. He banned all newspapers except four, and took the Bangladesh Army under his direct control and empowered his own militia force.”
15 August, Bangladesh’s day of mourning (not for everyone)
“So, Mujib’s fall, and not his brutal assassination, became a cause for celebration for a large number of Bangladeshis who did not support the Awami League in 1975 and who do not support them now,” Rabbi told IndiaToday.in.
Political analysts say that the commemoration of 15 August is being imposed on the entire country.
“Against that backdrop, when Hasina pressured Bangladeshis to celebrate August 15 for a month, put black bands on all national TV channels, banned any kind of celebrations — including India’s Independence Day, which falls on the same day — a reaction was inevitable among the new generation, which is so far removed from that emotional history,” says Rabbi, referring to the lungi dance video.
A Bangladesh watcher says Awami League leaders… Supporting brutal attacks on protesters This action was taken by the security forces on the orders of Hasina.
“These are the people who are being harassed on the streets for trying to pay tribute to the August 15, 1975 assassination. Law adviser Asif Nazrul gave an example that one cannot grieve for 52-year-old blood when your hands are stained with last month’s blood. The reaction you are seeing on the streets is because of this contradiction,” Rabbi says.
Anti-Discrimination Student Movement coordinator Hasnat Abdullah tried to blame pro-Awami League forces for the obscene dance that took place near Dhanmondi 32. He alleged that efforts were being made to defame the party. Student movement through attacks on minorities and extortion. Abdullah told Jamuna TV that it was an attempt to create a narrative that the previous Awami League government was better.
This was a desperate attempt to justify something that people have called disgusting. However, beating up people who had come to pay tribute to Mujib cannot be justified in any way.
It is not ironic that the ‘Lungi Dance’ was a tribute to legendary Indian actor Rajinikanth. In Bangladesh, it became a symbol of mockery and denigration of the legacy of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.
What is certain is that there is anger against Sheikh Hasina and a loss of attachment to Mujib’s legacy. What is also certain is that anti-1971 forces, energised by the mass protests, now dominate Bangladeshi society. And, “history is written by the victors.”